In the Windows 11 24H2 update, support for the ReFS (Resilient File System) file system appeared on ordinary computers, which was previously only available in server versions such as Windows Server. One of the new key functions is block cloning (Block Cloning), which allows you to significantly speed up file copying operations.

ReFS was first introduced by Microsoft in 2012 and is intended for server applications and large file storage. It provides high resistance to failures and data corruption thanks to built-in integrity checking and automatic backup. If a file system encounters corruption, it isolates only the corrupted data while preserving the integrity of other information.

In Windows 11, ReFS is presented in the Dev Drive format, which is aimed at developers and professionals. Microsoft says the new file system can improve performance when copying files. For example, copying a 1 GB file using ReFS is 94% faster than using traditional NTFS, which is especially noticeable when working with large amounts of data.

However, ReFS cannot be used to install the operating system – its main role remains in optimizing work with files and improving performance when working with storage. In addition, ReFS can automatically manage different levels of storage, optimizing the balance between performance and capacity, which is especially relevant when using SSDs and HDDs.

Despite the obvious advantages of ReFS, its usefulness on ordinary home PCs may be limited if there is no multi-disk array or the need to work with large volumes of data, as in server systems.