diff --git a/uSync.BackOffice/Services/ISyncActionService.cs b/uSync.BackOffice/Services/ISyncActionService.cs
index 3742f813..f1a80bfd 100644
--- a/uSync.BackOffice/Services/ISyncActionService.cs
+++ b/uSync.BackOffice/Services/ISyncActionService.cs
@@ -68,5 +68,12 @@ public interface ISyncActionService
     /// <summary>
     ///  unpacks a zip archive (stream) to disk, checks it and copies it over the existing uSync folder. 
     /// </summary>
-    UploadImportResult UnpackImportFromStream(Stream stream);
+    [Obsolete("Use UnpackImportFromStreamAsync(Stream stream) will be removed in v19")]
+    UploadImportResult UnpackImportFromStream(Stream stream)
+        => UnpackImportFromStreamAsync(stream).GetAwaiter().GetResult();
+
+    /// <summary>
+    ///  unpacks a zip archive (stream) to disk, checks it and copies it over the existing uSync folder. 
+    /// </summary>
+    Task<UploadImportResult> UnpackImportFromStreamAsync(Stream stream);
 }
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/uSync.BackOffice/Services/ISyncFileService.cs b/uSync.BackOffice/Services/ISyncFileService.cs
index 83988677..1cafae4b 100644
--- a/uSync.BackOffice/Services/ISyncFileService.cs
+++ b/uSync.BackOffice/Services/ISyncFileService.cs
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
-using System.Collections.Generic;
+using System;
+using System.Collections.Generic;
 using System.IO;
 using System.Threading.Tasks;
 using System.Xml.Linq;
@@ -200,5 +201,12 @@ public interface ISyncFileService
     /// <summary>
     ///  run some basic checks on a folder to see if it looks ok. 
     /// </summary>
-    List<string> VerifyFolder(string folder, string extension);
+    [Obsolete("Use VerifyFolderAsync instead will be removed in v19")]
+    List<string> VerifyFolder(string folder, string extension)
+        => VerifyFolderAsync(folder, extension).GetAwaiter().GetResult();
+
+    /// <summary>
+    ///  run some basic checks on a folder to see if it looks ok. 
+    /// </summary>
+    Task<List<string>> VerifyFolderAsync(string folder, string extension);
 }
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/uSync.BackOffice/Services/SyncActionService.cs b/uSync.BackOffice/Services/SyncActionService.cs
index 07fc5d00..3afbc06e 100644
--- a/uSync.BackOffice/Services/SyncActionService.cs
+++ b/uSync.BackOffice/Services/SyncActionService.cs
@@ -231,7 +231,7 @@ public Stream GetExportFolderAsStream()
         return _uSyncService.CompressFolder(_uSyncConfig.GetWorkingFolder());
     }
 
-    public UploadImportResult UnpackImportFromStream(Stream stream)
+    public async Task<UploadImportResult> UnpackImportFromStreamAsync(Stream stream)
     {
         var tempFolder = Path.Combine(_uSyncTempPath, Path.GetFileNameWithoutExtension(Path.GetRandomFileName())) 
             ?? $"{_uSyncTempPath}{Path.DirectorySeparatorChar}{Path.GetFileNameWithoutExtension(Path.GetRandomFileName()) ?? Guid.NewGuid().ToString()}";
@@ -242,7 +242,7 @@ public UploadImportResult UnpackImportFromStream(Stream stream)
         {
             _uSyncService.DeCompressFile(stream, tempFolder);
 
-            var errors = _syncFileService.VerifyFolder(tempFolder,
+            var errors = await _syncFileService.VerifyFolderAsync(tempFolder,
                 _uSyncConfig.Settings.DefaultExtension);
 
             if (errors.Count > 0)
diff --git a/uSync.BackOffice/Services/SyncFileService.cs b/uSync.BackOffice/Services/SyncFileService.cs
index 6a0c96c9..4b20b4e4 100644
--- a/uSync.BackOffice/Services/SyncFileService.cs
+++ b/uSync.BackOffice/Services/SyncFileService.cs
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
 using Microsoft.Extensions.Logging;
 
 using System;
+using System.Collections.Concurrent;
 using System.Collections.Generic;
 using System.IO;
 using System.Linq;
@@ -197,7 +198,7 @@ public async Task<XElement> LoadXElementAsync(string file)
                 if (stream is null)
                     throw new FileNotFoundException($"Cannot create stream for {file}"); ;
 
-                using (var xmlReader = XmlReader.Create(stream, _readerSettings))
+                using (var xmlReader = XmlReader.Create(stream, _readerSettings.Clone()))
                 {
                     return await XElement.LoadAsync(xmlReader, LoadOptions.PreserveWhitespace, CancellationToken.None);    
                 }
@@ -348,7 +349,7 @@ public async Task<int> MakeSingleExportFromFolders(string[] folders, string item
     }
 
     /// <inheritdoc/>
-    public List<string> VerifyFolder(string folder, string extension)
+    public async Task<List<string>> VerifyFolderAsync(string folder, string extension)
     {
         var resolvedFolder = GetAbsPath(folder);
         if (!DirectoryExists(resolvedFolder))
@@ -371,7 +372,7 @@ public List<string> VerifyFolder(string folder, string extension)
         {
             try
             {
-                var node = LoadXElementAsync(file).Result;
+                var node = await LoadXElementAsync(file);
 
                 if (!node.IsEmptyItem())
                 {
@@ -489,29 +490,33 @@ public async Task<IEnumerable<OrderedNodeInfo>> MergeFoldersAsync(string[] folde
     private static XElement MergeNodes(XElement source, XElement target, ISyncTrackerBase? trackerBase)
         => trackerBase is null ? target : trackerBase.MergeFiles(source, target) ?? target;
 
-    private async Task<IEnumerable<KeyValuePair<string, OrderedNodeInfo>>> GetFolderItemsAsync(string folder, string extension)
+    private async Task<IEnumerable<KeyValuePair<string, OrderedNodeInfo>>> GetFolderItemsAsync(
+        string folder, string extension)
     {
-        var items = new List<KeyValuePair<string, OrderedNodeInfo>>();
+        var filePaths = GetFilePaths(folder, extension);
+        var results = new ConcurrentBag<KeyValuePair<string, OrderedNodeInfo>>();
 
-        foreach (var file in GetFilePaths(folder, extension))
-        {
-            var element = await LoadXElementSafeAsync(file);
-            if (element != null)
+        await Parallel.ForEachAsync(
+            filePaths,
+            new ParallelOptions { MaxDegreeOfParallelism = Environment.ProcessorCount },
+            async (file, _) =>
             {
-                var path = file.Substring(folder.Length);
-
-                items.Add(new KeyValuePair<string, OrderedNodeInfo>(
-                    key: path,
-                    value: new OrderedNodeInfo(
-                        filename: file,
-                        node: element,
-                        level: (element.GetLevel() * 1000) + element.GetItemSortOrder(),
-                        path: path,
-                        isRoot: true)));
-            }
-        }
+                var element = await LoadXElementSafeAsync(file);
+                if (element is not null)
+                {
+                    var path = file.Substring(folder.Length);
+                    results.Add(new KeyValuePair<string, OrderedNodeInfo>(
+                        key: path,
+                        value: new OrderedNodeInfo(
+                            filename: file,
+                            node: element,
+                            level: (element.GetLevel() * 1000) + element.GetItemSortOrder(),
+                            path: path,
+                            isRoot: true)));
+                }
+            });
 
-        return items;
+        return results;
     }
 
     /// <inheritdoc/>
diff --git a/uSync.BackOffice/SyncHandlers/SyncHandlerBase.cs b/uSync.BackOffice/SyncHandlers/SyncHandlerBase.cs
index 0f37fa09..764ab9b9 100644
--- a/uSync.BackOffice/SyncHandlers/SyncHandlerBase.cs
+++ b/uSync.BackOffice/SyncHandlers/SyncHandlerBase.cs
@@ -74,7 +74,7 @@ protected override async Task<IEnumerable<uSyncAction>> CleanFolderAsync(string
         // be a little slower (not much though)
 
         // we cache this, (it is cleared on an ImportAll)
-        var keys = GetFolderKeys(folder, flat);
+        var keys = await GetFolderKeysAsync(folder, flat);
         if (keys.Count > 0)
         {
             // move parent to here, we only need to check it if there are files.
diff --git a/uSync.BackOffice/SyncHandlers/SyncHandlerRoot.cs b/uSync.BackOffice/SyncHandlers/SyncHandlerRoot.cs
index 6eadf6b4..ea7b62f8 100644
--- a/uSync.BackOffice/SyncHandlers/SyncHandlerRoot.cs
+++ b/uSync.BackOffice/SyncHandlers/SyncHandlerRoot.cs
@@ -617,7 +617,7 @@ protected virtual async Task<IEnumerable<uSyncAction>> CleanFolderAsync(string c
         // be a little slower (not much though)
 
         // we cache this, (it is cleared on an ImportAll)
-        var keys = GetFolderKeys(folder, flat);
+        var keys = await GetFolderKeysAsync(folder, flat);
         if (keys.Count > 0)
         {
             // move parent to here, we only need to check it if there are files.
@@ -664,39 +664,52 @@ public Task PreCacheFolderKeysAsync(string folder, IList<Guid> folderKeys)
     ///  so we cache it, and if we are using the flat folder structure, then
     ///  we only do it once, so its quicker. 
     /// </remarks>
+    [Obsolete("Use GetFolderKeysAsync instead, will be removed in v19")]
     protected IList<Guid> GetFolderKeys(string folder, bool flat)
+        => GetFolderKeysAsync(folder, flat).GetAwaiter().GetResult();
+
+    /// <summary>
+    ///  Get the GUIDs for all items in a folder
+    /// </summary>
+    /// <remarks>
+    ///  This is disk intensive, (checking the .config files all the time)
+    ///  so we cache it, and if we are using the flat folder structure, then
+    ///  we only do it once, so its quicker. 
+    /// </remarks>
+    protected async Task<IList<Guid>> GetFolderKeysAsync(string folder, bool flat)
     {
         // We only need to load all the keys once per handler (if all items are in a folder that key will be used).
         var folderKey = folder.GetHashCode();
 
         var cacheKey = $"{GetCacheKeyBase()}_{folderKey}";
 
+        var cached = runtimeCache.GetCacheItem<IList<Guid>>(cacheKey);
+        if (cached is not null) return cached;
 
-        return runtimeCache.GetCacheItem(cacheKey, () =>
-        {
-            if (logger.IsEnabled(LogLevel.Debug))
-                logger.LogDebug("Getting Folder Keys : {cacheKey}", cacheKey);
+        if (logger.IsEnabled(LogLevel.Debug))
+            logger.LogDebug("Getting Folder Keys : {cacheKey}", cacheKey);
 
-            // when it's not flat structure we also get the sub folders. (extra defensive get them all)
-            var keys = new List<Guid>();
-            var files = syncFileService.GetFiles(folder, $"*.{this.uSyncConfig.Settings.DefaultExtension}", !flat).ToList();
+        // when it's not flat structure we also get the sub folders. (extra defensive get them all)
+        var keySet = new HashSet<Guid>();
+        var files = syncFileService.GetFiles(folder, $"*.{this.uSyncConfig.Settings.DefaultExtension}", !flat);
 
-            foreach (var file in files)
+        foreach (var file in files)
+        {
+            var node = await syncFileService.LoadXElementAsync(file);
+            var key = node.GetKey();
+            if (key != Guid.Empty)
             {
-                var node = syncFileService.LoadXElementAsync(file).Result;
-                var key = node.GetKey();
-                if (key != Guid.Empty && !keys.Contains(key))
-                {
-                    keys.Add(key);
-                }
+                keySet.Add(key);
             }
+        }
 
-            if (logger.IsEnabled(LogLevel.Debug))
-                logger.LogDebug("Loaded {count} keys from {folder} [{cacheKey}]", keys.Count, folder, cacheKey);
+        var keys = keySet.ToList();
 
-            return keys;
+        if (logger.IsEnabled(LogLevel.Debug))
+            logger.LogDebug("Loaded {count} keys from {folder} [{cacheKey}]", keys.Count, folder, cacheKey);
 
-        }, null) ?? [];
+        runtimeCache.GetCacheItem(cacheKey, () => keys);
+        return keys;
     }
 
     /// <summary>
@@ -872,7 +885,7 @@ public async Task<IEnumerable<uSyncAction>> ExportAsync(Udi udi, string[] folder
 
         return [uSyncAction.Fail(nameof(udi), this.handlerType, this.ItemType, ChangeType.Fail, $"Item not found {udi}",
              new KeyNotFoundException(nameof(udi)))];
-            
+
     }
 
     /// <summary>
@@ -1325,7 +1338,7 @@ public virtual async Task<IEnumerable<uSyncAction>> ReportElementSingleAsync(XEl
         {
             return [uSyncActionHelper<TObject>
                 .ReportActionFail(Path.GetFileName(node.GetAlias()), $"format error {fex.Message}")];
-                
+
         }
     }
 
@@ -1501,17 +1514,16 @@ protected virtual async Task ExportDeletedItemAsync(TObject item, string[] folde
         if (item == null) return;
 
         var targetFolder = folders.Last();
-
         var filename = (await GetPathAsync(targetFolder, item, config.GuidNames, config.UseFlatStructure))
             .ToAppSafeFileName();
 
         if (IsLockedAtRoot(folders, filename.Substring(targetFolder.Length + 1)))
-        {
-            // don't do anything this thing exists at a higher level. ! 
             return;
-        }
 
-        if (await ShouldExportDeletedFileAsync(item, config) is false) return;
+        // Only perform the expensive full-serialize check if this handler
+        // actually overrides ShouldExportAsync (i.e. has filtering logic).
+        if (HandlerHasShouldExportOverride() && await ShouldExportDeletedFileAsync(item, config) is false)
+            return;
 
         var attempt = await serializer.SerializeEmptyAsync(item, SyncActionType.Delete, string.Empty);
         if (attempt.Item is not null && await ShouldExportAsync(attempt.Item, config) is true)
@@ -1520,17 +1532,20 @@ protected virtual async Task ExportDeletedItemAsync(TObject item, string[] folde
             {
                 await syncFileService.SaveXElementAsync(attempt.Item, filename);
 
-                // so check - it shouldn't (under normal operation) 
-                // be possible for a clash to exist at delete, because nothing else 
-                // will have changed (like name or location) 
-
-                // we only then do this if we are not using flat structure. 
                 if (!DefaultConfig.UseFlatStructure)
                     await this.CleanUpAsync(item, filename, Path.Combine(folders.Last(), this.DefaultFolder));
             }
         }
     }
 
+    // Cached reflection result — only computed once per handler type.
+    private bool? _hasShouldExportOverride;
+    private bool HandlerHasShouldExportOverride()
+        => _hasShouldExportOverride ??= GetType()
+            .GetMethod(nameof(ShouldExportAsync),
+                System.Reflection.BindingFlags.NonPublic | System.Reflection.BindingFlags.Instance)
+            ?.DeclaringType != typeof(SyncHandlerRoot<TObject, TContainer>);
+
     private async Task<bool> ShouldExportDeletedFileAsync(TObject item, HandlerSettings config)
     {
         try
@@ -1541,7 +1556,7 @@ private async Task<bool> ShouldExportDeletedFileAsync(TObject item, HandlerSetti
         }
         catch (Exception ex)
         {
-            logger.LogWarning(ex, "Failed to calculate if this item should be exported when deleted, the common option is yes, so we will");
+            logger.LogWarning(ex, "Error while checking if should export deleted file.");
             return true;
         }
     }
@@ -1608,7 +1623,6 @@ protected virtual async Task CleanUpAsync(TObject item, string newFile, string f
             await CleanUpAsync(item, newFile, children);
         }
     }
-
     #endregion
 
     // 98% of the time the serializer can do all these calls for us, 
diff --git a/uSync.Core/Serialization/SyncContainerSerializerBase.cs b/uSync.Core/Serialization/SyncContainerSerializerBase.cs
index be67b39f..f7265f78 100644
--- a/uSync.Core/Serialization/SyncContainerSerializerBase.cs
+++ b/uSync.Core/Serialization/SyncContainerSerializerBase.cs
@@ -194,19 +194,22 @@ public virtual async Task<IEnumerable<EntityContainer>> GetContainersAsync(TObje
     {
         if (entityTypeContainerTypeService is null) return [];
 
-        var parent = await entityTypeContainerTypeService.GetParentAsync(item);
-        if (parent is null) return [];
+        if (_containersCache.TryGetValue(item.ParentId, out var cached) && cached is not null)
+            return cached;
+
+        var containers = new List<EntityContainer>();
 
-        var containers = new List<EntityContainer>() { parent };
+        var parent = await entityTypeContainerTypeService.GetParentAsync(item);
 
         while (parent is not null)
         {
+            containers.Add(parent);
             parent = await entityTypeContainerTypeService.GetParentAsync(parent);
-            if (parent is not null)
-                containers.Add(parent);
         }
 
-        return containers;
+        var containersArray = containers.ToArray();
+        _containersCache.TryAdd(item.ParentId, containersArray);
+        return containersArray;
     }
 
 
@@ -302,9 +305,13 @@ public virtual async Task SaveContainerAsync(Guid parent, EntityContainer contai
     ///  only used on serialization, allows us to only build the folder path for a set of containers once.
     /// </remarks>
     private ConcurrentDictionary<int, XElement> _folderCache = [];
+    private ConcurrentDictionary<int, EntityContainer[]> _containersCache = [];
 
     private void ClearFolderCache()
-        => _folderCache = [];
+    {
+        _folderCache = [];
+        _containersCache = [];
+    }
 
     public void InitializeCache()
     {