There are many reasons why the speed of USB data transfer on Windows 11 is slower than usual. And if you are facing that problem, in this article I will show you some solutions for how to fix slow usb transfer speeds on windows 11 OS.

It will be very annoying when the process of transferring data via USB on Windows 11 takes longer than usual. While there can be a number of causes ranging from incompatible USB ports to faulty drivers, troubleshooting shouldn’t be too difficult.

Of course, if you’re using an unverified USB drive or a USB device that you bought from an unknown address, it won’t work. But if your USB drive is of good quality and the data transfer process suddenly slows down, you need to take a closer look at your computer. Below I will show a few different ways to help you fix slow USB data transfer speeds on Windows 11 and stay tuned.

So, How to Fix Slow USB Transfer Speeds on Windows 11? Top 5 Ways For Solution

Try Connecting via Another USB Port

You should try a different USB port on your computer. Incompatible or malfunctioning USB ports are a common reason why USB data transfer speeds on Windows are slow. Therefore, you can try connecting your device to another USB port to check if there is any difference.

Most computers have both USB 2.0 and USB 3.0 ports. So, make sure you are connecting the USB 3.0 drive to the 3.0 port for better transfer speed. The USB 3.0 ports are blue, and the rest have the SS (SuperSpeed USB logo) mark next to them.

Check USB Device Error

Problems with USB devices can also cause slow data transfer speeds on Windows. So, you can scan your storage device for file system errors or bad sectors to see if that helps.

Step 1: Right-click the Start icon and select File Explorer from the menu that appears.

Step 2: Navigate to the PC section on the left. In the right pane, right-click the USB drive and select Properties.

Step 3: In the newly displayed dialog box, select the Tools tab and then click the Check button in the Error checking frame to start checking for errors.

Step 4: Click the Yes button in the User Account Control dialog box displayed.

Step 5: Select the Scan driver option to continue. If Windows finds any problems with the USB drive, follow the on-screen prompts to resolve it.

Policy change for better speed USB drive

By default, Windows 11 uses the Quick Removal policy for all USB devices. While this allows you to unplug the USB device without ejecting it from the system the old-fashioned way, it also reduces data transfer speeds.

Changing the USB policy for a device to Better Performance can help improve data transfer speeds on Windows 11, and here’s how.

Step 1: Click the Search icon on the taskbar, type device manager and press Enter.

Step 2: Expand the Disk drivers option in the new window, right-click the USB drive displayed in the storage list and select Properties.

Step 3: In the Properties window of the displayed device, select the Policies tab and click the Better Performance option to replace the Quick removal option by default. Then, press the OK button.

Reconnect your USB drive back to the system and test the data transfer speed by transferring a large file.

Restart the Optimize Drives Service

Optimize Drives is a Windows service that helps your system run more efficiently by optimizing files on the drive. If this service is not running, you may experience slower USB drive data transfer speed on Windows 11. To fix this problem, follow these steps:

Step 1: Press Windows key + R to launch the Run dialog box, type services.msc in the Open box and press Enter.

Step 2: In the Services window displayed, find and double-click the Optimize drives service in the right pane.

Step 3: In the Startup type section below the Log On tab, change it to the Automatic option, then click the Apply button > OK.

Restart the computer and then reconnect the USB device and check the USB data transfer speed again.

Change the file system of the USB to NTFS

Another issue that you need to consider is the file system that the USB drive is using. If the USB drive uses the FAT32 file system format, the data transfer speed will be slower when transferring large files. In that case, you can change the file system for the USB drive from FAT32 to NTFS for better transfer speed.

Since this process requires formatting the drive, make sure you back up all existing data on the USB drive before continuing.

Step 1: Press the Windows + E key combination to launch File Explorer and navigate to This PC from the left pane.

Step 2: From the right pane, right-click your USB device and select Format… in the drop-down menu.

Step 3: In the displayed Format window, select NTFS in the File system frame and then click the Start button to reformat the USB drive with the new file system format.

You will then notice an improvement in data transfer speed after formatting the USB drive to the NTFS file system.

Turn off Disk Indexing

Drive indexing is a useful feature that allows you to quickly search for files on your external drive. However, this feature can also slow down other operations, including the driver’s ability to transfer data. To avoid that, you can disable drive indexing for USB drives by following the steps below.

Step 1: Press Windows key + E to launch File Explorer and navigate to This PC section.

Step 2: Right-click the USB drive and select Properties.

Step 3: From the displayed dialog box, select the General tab and then uncheck the option Allow files on this drive to have contents indexed in addition to file properties. Then, click Apply > OK to apply.

Update USB driver

An outdated or faulty USB driver on the system can also slow down data transfer on the Windows USB drive. In that case, updating the USB device driver should help fix the problem.

Step 1: Press Windows key + R to launch the Run dialog box. Type devmgmt.msc in the Open box and press Enter.

Step 2: Double-click Universal Serial Bus controllers at the bottom to expand the options.

Step 3: Right-click the first USB Root Hub and select Update driver from the list.

Then follow the on-screen instructions to finish the process. If your computer has multiple USB ports, you will see multiple entries of the USB Root Hub driver. In that case it is necessary to update all options.

Slower USB data transfer speeds can be a waste of time and frustrate you. In that case, using one of the solutions above will help you increase data transfer speed on Windows 11. Thanks for reading and follow closely our website to get latest technical guide.