Several users on Windows 11 Enterprise are experiencing a major delay whenever they choose Save As from an application or after downloading a file. The Save As dialog eventually appears, but it can take a long time to load. What could be causing this, and what troubleshooting steps should we try?
4 Answers
Also verify the SMB configuration. A client setting such as LanmanWorkstation\RequireEncryption being enabled can cause delays if the file server does not support the required encryption or SMB version. Compare the client and server SMB encryption settings.
Check whether mapped network drives are involved. The Save As dialog may try to contact every mapped share, and an unavailable or slow server can make Explorer wait for a timeout. Temporarily removing the mapped drives and testing again is a good way to confirm this.
There have been cases where displaying Libraries in folder views caused the Save As window to load slowly. Open File Explorer Options, go to the General tab, and disable the option to show Libraries, then test the dialog again.
Use a diagnostic tool such as Process Monitor or WinDbg while opening the dialog. Watching which files, registry keys, or network locations are accessed during the delay should help identify whether the problem is caused by a share timeout, shell extension, or another Explorer dependency.
Could you explain what specifically I should look for in the diagnostic capture?
Where can I find the File Explorer Options menu to change that setting?