Stop Explorer guessing folder types (faster big folders) — via Windows Latest

Registry change

Double-click a .reg file and confirm to merge it. Right-click → Edit first if you want to read it, which is always a good idea with any .reg file from the internet.

Apply

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

; Oddbyte.Me: Stop Explorer guessing folder types (faster big folders)

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\Local Settings\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Shell\Bags\AllFolders\Shell]
"FolderType"="NotSpecified"

Undo

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

; Oddbyte.Me: undo Stop Explorer guessing folder types (faster big folders)

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\Local Settings\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Shell\Bags\AllFolders\Shell]
"FolderType"=-

Same thing from a command prompt

Run in a normal (non-admin) Command Prompt or Terminal.

reg add "HKCU\Software\Classes\Local Settings\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Shell\Bags\AllFolders\Shell" /v "FolderType" /t REG_SZ /d "NotSpecified" /f

Undo:

reg delete "HKCU\Software\Classes\Local Settings\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Shell\Bags\AllFolders\Shell" /v "FolderType" /f

Catch: picture and video folders no longer get thumbnail-friendly views automatically; you can still set a view per folder. Folders that already remember a view keep it. Winaero's fuller method also deletes the Bags and BagMRU keys first to reset every folder view, which you may not want. The benefit mainly shows in folders with thousands of files.