Windows 11 update reportedly creates a mysterious folder on your system drive, which is certainly confusing – but ultimately harmless

The monthly patch for Windows 11 24H2 reportedly has a bug that creates an enigmatic folder
This ‘inetpub’ folder appears in the system drive but it’s empty
It’s harmless, and you can seemingly delete it safely – though there appears to be a history of ‘inetpub’ popping up on PCs

If you’re scratching your head because a mysterious folder has appeared on your system drive in Windows 11, you wouldn’t be alone.

According to Windows Latest, the issue with the strange folder being created pertains to the latest April update for Windows 11 24H2.

After installing that upgrade, apparently a good many users, including Windows Latest, have spotted that an empty folder called ‘inetpub’ has been created on the drive that Windows 11 is installed on (the C: drive normally).

This folder is empty, and doesn’t do anything, but its appearance may cause quite some bewilderment among Windows 11 users who open their drive for whatever reason and happen to notice the folder.

As Windows Latest explains, this appears to relate to IIS (Internet Information Services), which is Microsoft’s web server software for developers. The ‘inetpub’ folder is used to store the likes of web pages that a developer might be testing locally on the host PC.

If you’re panicking at this point, thinking that this update has installed an entire piece of software you don’t need on Windows 11 without your permission, then don’t fret. Nothing has actually been installed, only the blank folder has been mistakenly created.

In other words, there’s no harm done as such. Windows Latest has deleted the folder – as have others – and reports that it’s quite safe to remove it from your drive. Still, those who are more paranoid may just want to leave it (as it’s empty, and not doing anything – unless its presence annoys you, of course).

AOC Agon Pro AG276FK gaming monitor tilted slightly to the side, showing the Windows desktop screen

(Image credit: Future / Jeremy Laird)

Analysis: Folder whack-a-mole?

This is an odd quirk indeed, and yet another in a long line of weird bugs with Windows 11. As to what causes it, as Windows Latest theorizes, we can presume that somewhere within the April cumulative update, Microsoft is making some tweaks to IIS components. This process likely triggered the creation of the folder related to IIS storage errantly on machines that don’t use the software – but that’s all that has happened.

So, this is a relatively benign bug, and more a source of confusion than anything else. However, the danger is that strange behavior on a PC like this may cause a Windows 11 user to believe that they have perhaps been hit by a virus. Mysterious things appearing on your drive are, of course, a telltale sign of a virus infection (along with your PC becoming a lot more sluggish, or suffering from weird popups).

The bug also appears to be widespread, so quite a number of Windows 11 users may be annoyed, or bothered by, the folder’s appearance (if they notice it at all, that is). Windows Latest observes that it appeared on all of their Windows 11 machines, and there are a fair few reports from confused folks on Reddit, too.

At any rate, rest assured that nothing bad has happened to your system here, and hopefully Microsoft will be able to clean up this glitch relatively quickly. Running against that idea, though, is the fact that there are historical reports of the seemingly random appearance of this folder on system drives, and that doesn’t fill me with confidence that the software giant will stamp this out.

So, even if you do go ahead and delete it as Windows Latest suggests (at your own risk, I might add) – and that works fine – there’s no telling if at some point in the future, this folder might reappear on your Windows 11 drive.

It does indeed seem that some folks have been playing ‘inetpub’ whack-a-mole for some years now, and if that really is the case, it’s down to Microsoft to come up with a permanent solution.

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