Fix Slow access to Network drive from Windows 10

If you are facing delays when accessing documents or accessing files on a Network Share from Windows 10, then this post will be able to help you. In this post, we will, identify the potential cause of this issue, as well as provide both the solution and workaround you can try to help you mitigate the issue.

Let’s take a look at a typical scenario where you can encounter this issue.

You upgrade a Windows 10 computer to the nest version. After the upgrade finishes, you access a network share that contains thousands of files and folders, and you open a document that is located on that share. During both of these operations, you experience significant delays. However, if you uninstall/rollback the Windows 10 version, you can access network shares without delays.

This issue affects the ability of Windows 10 to cache large directories.

Slow access to Network drive from Windows 10

If you’re faced with delays when accessing documents on a network share from a Windows 10 computer, you can try the recommended solution or the workaround described below to resolve the issue.

To resolve this issue, make sure that you have installed all the latest Windows Updates and upgraded to the latest stable Windows 10 version.

If you cannot upgrade the computer to a later version of Windows 10 for some reason, you can work around the issue by configuring the following registry subkey:

DirectoryCacheLifetime: REG_DWORD: 0

Since this is a registry operation, it is recommended that you back up the registry or create a system restore point.

Once you have taken the necessary precautionary measures, you can proceed as follows:

Press Windows key + R. In the Run dialog box, type regedit and press Enter to open Registry Editor.

Navigate or jump to the registry key path below:

HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\LanmanWorkstation\Parameters

Identify the DirectoryCacheLifetime entry.

If the entry is not present, right-click on the blank space on the right pane and then select New > DWORD (32-bit) Value. Then rename the value name as DirectoryCacheLifetime and hit Enter.

• Now, double-click on the entry to edit its properties.
• Type 0 in the Value data box and hit Enter to save the change.

You can now exit Registry Editor and restart your PC. The network share delays issue should be resolved now.

That’s it!