Microsoft confirms Windows 11 22H2 causes some users to experience decreased copying performance

You are not alone if you have problems copying large files over SMB after installing the Windows 11 2022 Update. Microsoft confirmed the case, saying there is a performance reduction when users copy larger files from a remote computer to their Windows 11 PCs. In addition, the company said it could also be present when copying files on a local drive. To temporarily aid users experiencing this, mitigation is suggested using the built-in robocopy and xcopy tools.

“Copying large multiple gigabyte (GB) files might take longer than expected to finish on Windows 11, version 22H2,” explains Microsoft. “You are more likely to experience this issue copying files to Windows 11, version 22H2 from a network share via Server Message Block (SMB) but local file copy might also be affected.”

Users reported seeing a 40% decrease in system performance, while others claimed more than that or double the time when copying files within Windows. Meanwhile, Ned Pyle, Principal Program Manager in the Windows Server engineering group, said that the experience might vary by user. On the other hand, Microsoft noted that home or small office Windows devices are likely not hit by the same problem.

There are still no permanent solutions for this issue, but Microsoft said it is currently working on a solution, which will be provided through an update in an upcoming release. For now, users with the said issue can try a workaround recommended by Microsoft.

“To mitigate this issue, you can use file copy tools that do not use cache manager (buffered I/O),” Microsoft said in a support document, referring to robocopy and xcopy tools, which need to use the commands robocopy \\someserver\someshare c:\somefolder somefile.img /J and xcopy \\someserver\someshare c:\somefolder /J, respectively.

It is just one of the many issues many Windows 11 users face after installing the Windows 11 2022 Update on their machines. Recently, reports of provisioning packages failing to work on Windows 11 have also been reported by users. Remote Desktop users are also having problems, while there are still confirmed safeguard holds preventing the download of the update to some customers.