Windows 11: Fixing Slow File Transfers to USB Drives

Many Windows 11 users have encountered the frustrating issue of extremely slow file transfers to USB drives. While modern hardware should provide fast transfer speeds, users often report sluggish speeds, even when using high-speed devices like USB 3.2 memory sticks and NVMe SSDs. This article addresses why this might be happening and provides potential solutions.

Understanding the Problem

In a case, file transfers that should take seconds are instead taking hours. Speeds vary wildly, ranging from kilobytes per second to a few megabytes before stalling completely. Despite having fast hardware like a Western Digital Black SN850 NVMe SSD and a USB 3.2 memory stick, the transfer performance remains inconsistent.

This issue has persisted across multiple devices and configurations, regardless of whether the drive is formatted with NTFS, exFAT, or FAT32. You’ve updated all drivers and Windows itself, yet the problem remains. Below are some possible causes and solutions.

Possible Causes of Slow File Transfer Speeds

1. Windows Caching Policies: Windows uses write caching to speed up file transfers, but sometimes this can cause issues. Disabling or adjusting write caching settings may help stabilize speeds.
2. USB Drive Wear and Tear: USB drives have limited write cycles. As a drive nears the end of its lifespan, performance degrades, leading to inconsistent transfer speeds.
3. Conflicting USB Drivers: Despite updating your drivers, it’s possible there are compatibility issues or a driver mismatch causing slowdowns.
4. Background Processes: Sometimes antivirus software, indexing services, or other background processes can interfere with file transfers, throttling the speed.
5. Fragmentation or Corruption on USB Stick: A fragmented or corrupted USB drive can also lead to slow file transfers. Reformatting the USB stick may improve performance.
6. Power Settings: USB ports can go into power-saving mode, which might disrupt transfer speeds. Disabling selective suspend for USB ports could resolve this.
7. Faulty or Underperforming USB Hardware: Even though your USB drive claims to be USB 3.2, not all drives perform at their maximum speeds consistently. Cheap or faulty USB devices can often cause erratic performance.

Steps to Improve USB File Transfer Speeds on Windows 11

1. Check USB Driver Settings

• Step 1: Open Device Manager by right-clicking the Start Menu and selecting “Device Manager.”
• Step 2: Expand “Universal Serial Bus controllers” and locate your USB drive.
• Step 3: Right-click the USB device, select Properties, and go to the Policies tab.
• Step 4: Switch from “Quick removal” to Better performance and check the box for Enable write caching on the device. This change may help speed up the transfer.
• Note: Safely eject your USB device after each use to avoid data corruption.

2. Disable USB Selective Suspend

• Step 1: Go to Control Panel > Hardware and Sound > Power Options.
• Step 2: Click Change plan settings next to your active power plan.
• Step 3: Click Change advanced power settings.
• Step 4: In the Power Options window, expand USB settings and disable USB selective suspend for both battery and plugged-in modes.
• Step 5: Click Apply and OK.

3. Test Different USB Ports

• Ensure you are plugging your USB drive into a proper USB 3.2 port. Not all ports are equal in terms of speed. Try different ports on your PC to rule out issues with specific ones.

4. Reformat the USB Stick

• Warning: Reformatting the USB stick will delete all the data on it, so be sure to back up important files before proceeding.
• Step 1: Insert the USB drive and right-click on it in File Explorer.
• Step 2: Select Format.
• Step 3: Choose the appropriate file system (exFAT is often a good choice for large files) and uncheck Quick Format to perform a full reformat. This will check for errors and fix any fragmentation or corruption.

5. Disable Third-Party Antivirus Programs

• Antivirus software sometimes interferes with file transfers, especially when large files are involved. Temporarily disabling it while copying can speed things up.
• Note: Be sure to re-enable your antivirus after completing the file transfer.

6. Check USB Drive Health

• If your USB drive is older or has been heavily used, its performance may degrade. You can use utilities like CrystalDiskInfo or H2testw to check for errors and assess the health of the drive.

7. Update or Reinstall USB Drivers

• Step 1: Go to Device Manager.
• Step 2: Right-click your USB controller under “Universal Serial Bus controllers” and select Uninstall device.
• Step 3: Restart your computer. Windows will automatically reinstall the drivers.
• Alternatively, visit your motherboard or system manufacturer’s website and download the latest USB drivers.

8. Try a Different USB Drive

• If possible, test with a different, preferably newer USB drive. This helps to determine if the issue is with the drive itself rather than the system or USB ports.

Conclusion

File transfers should not be such a slow and tedious process, especially with modern hardware. By adjusting caching policies, disabling selective suspend, reformatting the USB drive, and making sure your drivers are properly updated, you can significantly improve transfer speeds on Windows 11.

If these steps don’t resolve the issue, it may be worth considering that the USB drives themselves are the bottleneck. Testing with newer, higher-quality drives can help confirm whether the problem lies with the USB device or the system configuration.