How to turn off Folder Type Discovery Windows 11

Windows automatically detects the contents of a folder and assigns a type to it. When a folder contains few documents, it is recommended to enable automatic detection of the folder type. If the folder contains hundreds of files, you can also disable this setting to reduce the time it takes to open the folder. Below are instructions for turning off Folder Type Discovery Windows.

Instructions to turn off Folder Type Discovery Windows 11

Step 1:

We open Windows + R to open the Run dialog box. Next, type regedit in Run and press OK to open Registry Editor.

Step 2:

Next, you access the link below.

ComputerHKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareClassesLocal SettingsSoftwareMicrosoftWindowsShellBagsAllFoldersShell

Look to the right, right-click on the white space and select New > String Value to create a new string and name it FolderType .

Step 3:

Double-click on the FolderType value, then enter NotSpecified for this string and click OK to save.

Once complete, File Explorer no longer wastes time scanning each file to decide how to display folder contents.

If you want to enable File Discovery, delete the FolderType string directly in Registry Editor.

Samuel Daniel

Update 08 December 2025