How to Speed Up Read-Only EF Core Queries

Reading data that you don't plan to update?

Consider AsNoTracking().

var products = await context.Products
    .AsNoTracking()
    .Where(x => x.IsActive)
    .ToListAsync();

By default, EF Core tracks entities so it can detect changes and persist them later.

For read-only scenarios, that tracking work might not be needed.

AsNoTracking() helps by:

• Avoiding change tracking
• Reducing tracking-related memory usage
• Making the intent of the query explicit
• Working well for API reads and reporting
• Keeping read-only queries focused on reading

If you don't plan to change the entity, consider asking EF Core not to track changes.