Feature request: avoid repeated unpacking of exactly the same app

Author: bersbersbersCreated Aug 31, 2023Updated Jul 31, 2026
Labelsfeaturetriage

Is your feature request related to a problem? Please describe. onefile mode is great for distribution. No zip files, no installer, just copy an exe and run. However, onefile is slow, because every time it runs it extracts the exact same data into almost the same location. In my case, we are speaking 4.5 vs. 1.5 seconds launch times (hand-stopped).

Describe the solution you'd like I would find it tremendously useful if I could opt-in to a process that works somewhat like this:

  • During generation of the onefile bundle, define an identifier for the app and generate a unique ID (maybe a hash of the content) that can be quickly accessed at run-time
  • During run-time, check if $TEMP\_MEI_$APP\$UNIQUE exists
    • yes: launch app from that location without extracting further
    • no: extract app into that location and run from there
  • On close, remove other/older folders in $TEMP\_MEI_$APP that are not $UNIQUE.

One could name this hybrid mode, or persistent onefile mode, or something that effect.