How to Expand the Icon Cache Size in Windows 11
Windows 11 saves file icons displayed within File Explorer in a special cache. Saving such icons within a cache enables Explorer to display them more quickly. However, that icon cache file’s size only amounts to about 500 KB, which restricts the number of icons it can include at any one time.
Therefore, it would be better for that cache to be at least a little bigger. Expanding that cache will help Explorer load more icons quicker. This is how you can extend the icon cache size within Windows 11.
How to Increase the Icon Cache Size by Editing the Registry
Built-in settings for configuring File Explorer’s icon cache size do not exist in Windows 11. So, we musttweak the registryto expand the icon cache. You can expand icon cache size with Registry Editor in the following steps:
You might then start noticing File Explorer loads icons a little quicker. The best way to try out this registry tweak is to open folders within Explorer. You might notice the icons in the folders load faster than before.
You can restore the original icon cache size by adjusting the value of theMax Cached Iconstring or deleting it. The default size value for the cache is 512 KB. To erase theMax Cached Iconstring, right-click it within theExplorerregistry key specified above and selectDelete>Yes.
How to Increase the Icon Cache Size With Winaero Tweaker
The Winaero Tweaker customization software for Windows 11 includes anIcon Cache Sizeoption. Configuring the size of the icon cache with that setting might be a bit simpler than manually editing the registry. If you prefer not to mess about with the registry, you can expand the icon cache size with Winaero Tweaker like this:
Expand the Icon Cache Size to Speed Up File Explorer
A 500 KB icon cache size might not always be sufficient for File Explorer. If Explorer doesn’t always load file icons in big folders especially promptly on your PC, expanding that cache could be an effective way to speed it up. Explorer might show file icons noticeably quicker when you’ve expanded that cache to four megabytes.
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