diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 7d00698dc..129db54a1 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -104,6 +104,8 @@ And it also includes fixes for all reported issues so far
     - lazy load optional imports  
     - batch embedding load, thanks @midcoastal  
       10x+ faster embeddings load for large number of embeddings, now works for 1000+ embeddings  
+    - file and folder list caching, thanks @midcoastal
+      if you have a lot of files and and/or are using slower or non-local storage, this speeds up file access a lot  
   - **extra networks**  
     - 4x faster civitai metadata and previews lookup  
     - better display and selection of tags & trigger words  
diff --git a/modules/extensions.py b/modules/extensions.py
index 1d6f287e0..5a8a53d29 100644
--- a/modules/extensions.py
+++ b/modules/extensions.py
@@ -1,13 +1,11 @@
 import os
 from datetime import datetime
 import git
-from modules import shared, errors, files_cache
+from modules import shared, errors
 from modules.paths import extensions_dir, extensions_builtin_dir
 
 
 extensions = []
-
-
 if not os.path.exists(extensions_dir):
     os.makedirs(extensions_dir)
 
diff --git a/modules/files_cache.py b/modules/files_cache.py
index 00721a6b5..ef422bf9a 100644
--- a/modules/files_cache.py
+++ b/modules/files_cache.py
@@ -7,6 +7,9 @@ from typing import Callable, Dict, Iterator, List, Optional, Union
 
 from installer import print_dict
 
+class Directory:
+    ...
+
 WasDirty = bool
 DidDelete = bool
 IsDirectory = bool
@@ -16,25 +19,17 @@ IsDirty = bool
 CachedDirectoryIsStale = bool
 MTime = float
 IsHidden = bool
-
 FilePath = str
 FilePathList = List[FilePath]
 FilePathIterator = Iterator[FilePath]
-
 DirectoryPath = str
 DirectoryPathList = List[DirectoryPath]
 DirectoryPathIterator = Iterator[DirectoryPath]
-
-class Directory:
-    ...
-
 DirectoryList = List[Directory]
 DirectoryIterator = Iterator[Directory]
 DirectoryCollection = Dict[DirectoryPath, Directory]
-
 ExtensionFilter = Callable
 ExtensionList = list[str]
-
 RecursiveType = Union[bool,Callable]
 
 
@@ -48,18 +43,14 @@ def real_path(directory_path:DirectoryPath) -> DirectoryPath | None:
 
 @dataclass(slots=True,frozen=True)
 class Directory(Directory): # pylint: disable=E0102
-
-
     path: DirectoryPath = field(default_factory=str)
     mtime: float = field(default_factory=float, init=False)
     files: FilePathList = field(default_factory=list)
     directories: DirectoryPathList = field(default_factory=list)
 
-
     def __post_init__(self):
         object.__setattr__(self, 'mtime', self.live_mtime)
 
-
     @classmethod
     def from_dict(cls, dict_object: dict) -> Directory:
         directory = cls.__new__(cls)
@@ -69,7 +60,6 @@ class Directory(Directory): # pylint: disable=E0102
         object.__setattr__(directory, 'directories', dict_object.get('directories'))
         return directory
 
-
     def clear(self) -> None:
         self._update(Directory.from_dict({
             'path': None,
@@ -78,13 +68,11 @@ class Directory(Directory): # pylint: disable=E0102
             'directories': []
         }))
 
-
     def update(self, source_directory: Directory) -> Directory:
         if source_directory is not self:
             self._update(source_directory)
         return self
 
-
     def _update(self, source:Directory) -> None:
         assert not source.path or source.path == self.path, f'When updating a directory, the paths must match.  Attemped to update Directory `{self.path}` with `{source.path}`'
         for dead_path in self.directories:
@@ -94,26 +82,21 @@ class Directory(Directory): # pylint: disable=E0102
         self.files[:] = source.files
         object.__setattr__(self, 'mtime', source.mtime)
 
-
     def __str__(self) -> str:
-        return str(print_dict(self, path=self.path, mtime=self.mtime, files=len(self.files), directories=len(self.directories)))
-
+        return str(print_dict(self, path=self.path, mtime=self.mtime, files=len(self.files), directories=len(self.directories))) # pylint: disable=unexpected-keyword-arg
 
     @property
     def exists(self) -> DirectoryExists:
         return self.path and path.exists(self.path)
 
-
     @property
     def is_directory(self) -> IsDirectory:
         return self.exists and path.isdir(self.path)
 
-
     @property
     def live_mtime(self) -> MTime:
         return path.getmtime(self.path) if self.is_directory else 0
 
-
     @property
     def is_stale(self) -> CachedDirectoryIsStale:
         return not self.is_directory or self.mtime != self.live_mtime
@@ -240,6 +223,7 @@ def _cached_walk(top, onerror:Callable=None, /, recurse:RecursiveType=True) -> D
                 continue
             yield from _cached_walk(child_directory, onerror, recurse=recurse)
 
+
 def walk(top, onerror:Callable=None, /, recurse:RecursiveType=True, cached=True) -> Directory:
     if cached:
         yield from _cached_walk(top, onerror, recurse=recurse)
@@ -295,31 +279,14 @@ def unique_directories(directories:DirectoryPathList, /, recursive:RecursiveType
 
 
 def unique_paths(directory_paths:DirectoryPathList) -> DirectoryPathIterator:
-    realpaths = (
-        real_path(directory_path)
-        for directory_path
-        in filter(bool, directory_paths)
-    )
-    return {
-        real_directory_path: True
-        for real_directory_path
-        in filter(bool, realpaths)
-    }.keys()
+    realpaths = (real_path(directory_path) for directory_path in filter(bool, directory_paths))
+    return {real_directory_path: True for real_directory_path in filter(bool, realpaths)}.keys()
 
 
 def get_directories(*directory_paths: DirectoryPathList, fetch:bool=True, recursive:RecursiveType=True) -> DirectoryCollection:
-    directory_paths = unique_directories(
-        directory_paths, recursive=recursive
-    )
-    directories = (
-        get_directory(directory_path, fetch=fetch)
-        for directory_path
-        in directory_paths
-    )
-    return filter(
-        bool,
-        directories
-    )
+    directory_paths = unique_directories(directory_paths, recursive=recursive)
+    directories = (get_directory(directory_path, fetch=fetch) for directory_path in directory_paths)
+    return filter(bool, directories)
 
 
 def directory_files(*directories_or_paths: DirectoryPathList|DirectoryList, recursive: RecursiveType=True) -> FilePathIterator:
@@ -333,28 +300,12 @@ def directory_files(*directories_or_paths: DirectoryPathList|DirectoryList, recu
                 for directory
                 in filter(
                     bool,
-                    map(
-                        get_directory,
-                        filter(
-                            (
-                                ( bool if recursive else False )
-                                if not callable(recursive)
-                                else recursive
-                            ),
-                            directory_object.directories
-                        )
-                    )
+                    map(get_directory, filter(((bool if recursive else False) if not callable(recursive) else recursive), directory_object.directories))
                 )
             )
         )
         for directory_object
-        in filter(
-            bool,
-            map(
-                get_directory,
-                directories_or_paths
-            )
-        )
+        in filter(bool, map(get_directory, directories_or_paths))
     )
 
 
@@ -380,9 +331,7 @@ def list_files(*directory_paths:DirectoryPathList, ext_filter: Optional[Extensio
     return filter_files(itertools.chain.from_iterable(
         directory_files(directory, recursive=recursive)
         for directory
-        in get_directories(
-            *directory_paths, recursive=recursive
-        )
+        in get_directories(*directory_paths, recursive=recursive)
     ), ext_filter, ext_blacklist)
 
 
diff --git a/modules/hypernetworks/hypernetwork.py b/modules/hypernetworks/hypernetwork.py
index 7352f3bc4..ba6c790f8 100644
--- a/modules/hypernetworks/hypernetwork.py
+++ b/modules/hypernetworks/hypernetwork.py
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@ from modules.textual_inversion.learn_schedule import LearnRateScheduler
 
 optimizer_dict = {optim_name : cls_obj for optim_name, cls_obj in inspect.getmembers(torch.optim, inspect.isclass) if optim_name != "Optimizer"}
 
+
 class HypernetworkModule(torch.nn.Module):
     activation_dict = {
         "linear": torch.nn.Identity,
diff --git a/modules/textual_inversion/textual_inversion.py b/modules/textual_inversion/textual_inversion.py
index 81fbb26d5..c00f187fe 100644
--- a/modules/textual_inversion/textual_inversion.py
+++ b/modules/textual_inversion/textual_inversion.py
@@ -15,7 +15,6 @@ import modules.textual_inversion.loaders
 from modules.textual_inversion.learn_schedule import LearnRateScheduler
 from modules.textual_inversion.image_embedding import embedding_to_b64, embedding_from_b64, insert_image_data_embed, extract_image_data_embed, caption_image_overlay
 from modules.textual_inversion.ti_logging import save_settings_to_file
-from typing import List, Optional, Union
 from modules.files_cache import directory_files, directory_mtime, extension_filter
 
 
diff --git a/modules/ui_extra_networks.py b/modules/ui_extra_networks.py
index bc6e16217..ea714d656 100644
--- a/modules/ui_extra_networks.py
+++ b/modules/ui_extra_networks.py
@@ -1,10 +1,10 @@
+import os
 import io
 import re
 import time
 import json
 import html
 import base64
-import os.path
 import urllib.parse
 import threading
 from datetime import datetime
@@ -155,12 +155,11 @@ class ExtraNetworksPage:
         debug(f'EN create-thumb: {self.name}')
         created = 0
         for f in self.missing_thumbs:
-            if not os.path.exists(f):
+            if os.path.join('models', 'Reference') in f or not os.path.exists(f):
                 continue
-            fn, _ext = os.path.splitext(f)
-            fn = fn.replace('.preview', '')
+            fn = os.path.splitext(f)[0].replace('.preview', '')
             fn = f'{fn}.thumb.jpg'
-            if os.path.exists(fn):
+            if os.path.exists(fn): # thumbnail already exists
                 continue
             img = None
             try:
@@ -296,17 +295,19 @@ class ExtraNetworksPage:
         exts = ["jpg", "jpeg", "png", "webp", "tiff", "jp2"]
         if path is None:
             return 'html/card-no-preview.png'
+        if os.path.join('models', 'Reference') in path:
+            return path
         if shared.opts.diffusers_dir in path:
             path = os.path.relpath(path, shared.opts.diffusers_dir)
-            ref = os.path.join('models', 'Reference')
-            fn = os.path.join(ref, path.replace('models--', '').replace('\\', '/').split('/')[0])
-            files = list(files_cache.list_files(ref, ext_filter=exts, recursive=False))
+            reference_path = os.path.abspath(os.path.join('models', 'Reference'))
+            fn = os.path.join(reference_path, path.replace('models--', '').replace('\\', '/').split('/')[0])
+            files = list(files_cache.list_files(reference_path, ext_filter=exts, recursive=False))
         else:
             files = list(files_cache.list_files(os.path.dirname(path), ext_filter=exts, recursive=False))
             fn = os.path.splitext(path)[0]
         for file in [f'{fn}{mid}{ext}' for ext in exts for mid in ['.thumb.', '.', '.preview.']]:
             if file in files:
-                if 'Reference' not in file and '.thumb.' not in file:
+                if '.thumb.' not in file:
                     self.missing_thumbs.append(file)
                 return file
         return 'html/card-no-preview.png'