These are 16 tips for Windows Explorer in Windows 11. Windows Explorer in Windows 11 has been updated, it has a new menu, a new ribbon and more new features.
To make the most of all the new features, apply the tips in this article when you need it.
This article contains a number of tips that can make working with Windows 11 via Windows Explorer a lot easier.
16 tips for Windows Explorer in Windows 11
Tip 1: Open Windows Explorer
When you open Windows Explorer, it will open in the “Quick Access” shortcut by default. You can change this to “This PC”.
In Windows Explorer, click on the three dots in the ribbon. Then click on Options in the menu. Change “Open Explorer in” to “Quick Access” or “This PC”.
Tip 2: Show all folders including Control Panel and Recycle Bin in the sidebar
You can view all folders in the sidebar in Windows Explorer. Enabling this will also add the Recycle Bin and Control Panel to the sidebar.
Right-click in free space on the left sidebar in Windows Explorer. Then click on “Show all folders”. You will now see a number of shortcuts added.
Tip 3: Change folder layout in Windows Explorer
You can change the layout of folders in Windows Explorer. For example, you can display folders in a list, details, tiles, or folder contents. There is also a compact view.
If you want to hide or show certain items in Windows Explorer, click “Show” and then you can show or hide the navigation pane, details pane, preview pane, item check boxes, file name extensions, or hidden items.
This way you can fully customize Windows Explorer to your liking.
Tip 4: Show or hide recent files in Quick Access
If you use quick access in Windows Explorer, recent files will be displayed. You can hide or show these recent files via the options.
In Windows Explorer, click on the three dots in the ribbon. Then click on Options in the menu. Click “Show recently used files in Quick Access” to enable or disable the option.
Tip 5: Customize folder or file icon
By default, Windows Explorer in Windows 11 has a set of icons for a file or folder. You can change an icon to an icon of your choice.
Right-click on the file or folder. Click Properties in the menu. Click on the “Customize” tab and click on “Select File” in the “Folder Images”. This way you can set your own image per folder.
Tip 6: Show preview window
If you want to view the contents of a file or folder, enable the “preview window”. This way you can immediately see a preview of an image or the contents of a folder.
Click on the three dots in the menu. Click Show, then enable “Preview Pane”. On the right side you will now see an extra “preview” panel appear in Windows Explorer.
Tip 7: Share files via Windows Explorer
If you want to share a single or multiple files in Windows 11, you can do this via Windows Explorer.
Open Windows Explorer, right-click on the file you want to share and click the “Share” button.
Tip 8: Rename multiple files at the same time in Windows Explorer
You can rename multiple files at the same time via Windows Explorer. You do this by selecting all the files you want to rename. Then click on the “Change name” icon in the menu. Enter a new name.
You will now see that all selected files are given the same name with a succession behind them, a number.
If you prefer to give each file a different name, start with file one. Click on it and click the “Rename” icon in the menu. Enter a name, then press the TAB button on your keyboard. The following file is ready to be renamed.
This way you don't have to keep clicking the “Change name” button in the menu.
Tip 9: Add folder to Quick Access
If you use quick access when opening Windows Explorer you can add folders. This folder will immediately become visible under “Quick Access” in the left panel.
Right-click a folder, then click “Pin to Quick Access”.
Click the folder again and click “Unpin from Quick Access” to remove the folder from Quick Access.
Tip 10: Rotate multiple images via Windows Explorer
If you have multiple images that you would like to change the rotation of, you can do this via Windows Explorer. It is not necessary to open all images separately and rotate them left or right.
Select one or more images. Right-click on the image(s) and click “Rotate Clockwise” or “Rotate Counterclockwise”.
Tip 11: Create new files
You can create several new files via Windows Explorer. You right-click on free space in Windows Explorer, click New and then click the desired file type.
Tip 12: Always open file with specific app
If you have a file that you always want to open with one specific program, you can set this up in the following way.
Right-click the file, then click Open with. Now click on the app whose file type you want to always open. Is the app not listed directly? Then click “Choose another app” and click it in the list of apps.
Tip 13: Quickly change metadata in file
If you have an image or a document whose “meta data” you want to quickly change, you can do this via a key combination.
Click on the file whose metadata you want to change in Windows Explorer. Then press the SHIFT + ALT + P key combination. A “Details” panel will now appear on the right side. Click on the specific meta data, change the data and click Save.
Tip 14: Show image preview in Windows Explorer
You can preview a specific type of file in Windows Explorer. You can have one preview a PDF file, but also of an image. You will then immediately see a small thumbnail – example – of an image in Windows Explorer without having to open it.
Open Windows Explorer. In the menu, click on the menu button recognizable as “…”. In the menu click on Options. Then click on the Display tab and uncheck the option “Always show icons, never thumbnails”. Click OK.
After this, click on View in Windows Explorer and choose one of the icon views. You can choose from extra large, large, normal or small icons.
You will immediately see the preview of the image in Windows Explorer.
Tip 15: Useful key combination for Windows explorer
You can press key combinations to make working with Windows Explorer even faster. Below are the combinations.
CTRL + N = Open new Windows Explorer window.
CTRL + W = Close the active Windows Explorer window.
CTRL + SHIFT + N = Create a new folder.
Backspace = Back to the previous folder.
CTRL +F = Search.
CTRL + L = Direct focus on the address bar.
Tip 16: Drag files or folders to Windows Explorer tabs
If you Windows 11 22H2 installed, then you will see tabs in Windows Explorer. What many people don't know is that if you have multiple tabs open, files and folders can be dragged from one tab to another.
Read more about the tabs in Windows Explorer.
I hope this helped you. Thank you for reading!
Add folder to Quick Access.
Works fine, but after restart the folder disappeared from Quick Access.
This cannot be fixed.
Hello, I tested it and it works for me in Windows 11. I recommend that you run SFC. This allows you to recover files in case of any problems in Windows:
Lees meer: https://www.pc-tips.info/tips/windows-tips/systeembestanden-repareren-in-windows-11-of-10/
So I have not been able to reproduce the problem and unfortunately I have no other solution than SFC. Good luck!
Thank you for your response.
SFC performed, without success.
I'll let this rest
Hallo,
thanks for the useful tips.
I have another question, in Windows 10 the files in a folder were automatically re-sorted when a change was made (new file, delete file, etc). That doesn't work for me in Windows 11, is that something from the new Windows or do I have a wrong setting somewhere?
bvd,
Blacky
Hello, what is somewhat similar is.
Open Explorer. Go to the folder you want to apply the sort to. In the ribbon, click “Sort” > “Group by” > “Modified by”. This sorts files and folders by their modification date.
Success!
Hallo,
thank you very much for your answer, but that's not exactly what I meant 😉
By default, I have my folders sorted by AZ or 0-10.
When I open a folder the sorting is also the same. But, if I add a file to the folder, which should be somewhere in there by name or number, that file stays at the bottom. I then have to manually sort again and that doesn't go smoothly in Windows 11. In Windows 10, such a file was immediately inserted in the right place.
As you can see, sorting by 'modified on' would not give the desired effect.
Do you have any other option I could try?
Regards,
Blacky
Hello, sort by name? Try a few sorting options, maybe the right one is among them. Good luck!
Thanks for the tips. After all these years I have learned something new.
Still a question for explorer in win11. I want the files in explorer to always be shown in detailed view and not with large thumbnails. I know I can toggle this by selecting a different option at the bottom right of the preview window. But sometimes a folder opens in detail view (showing information about each item in the window) and sometimes with large thumbnails (showing items as large thumbnails). This often depends on whether multiple images are shown in the folder, but sometimes not. I want to see the detail view by default. How can I achieve this without having to change the bottom right every time.
Thanks for your comment. I look forward. Peter
Hello, once you set the detail view for each folder you want to change the view for, Windows will remember it. I have tested it and for me it remains the default as I have set this.
Click View in the Explorer ribbon > change the desired view.
Success!
Indeed, it works.
Hi Stefan,
I drag a lot of emails into File Explorer. I change the “name” of the email there. I can't fit enough text here and I want to change it. I can't do that. I thought I could solve it by changing “width of selected column in pixels” to 999, but that only has to do with the display. Do you know the solution? Thanks in advance!
Hello, I know this is there for paths, i.e. a folder name, but not for file names. I tried the possible solution for a file name, and unfortunately it doesn't work. As far as I know, there is no way to increase the number of characters in a file name. The default number of characters is 260. Unfortunately.
Thank you very much for the answer. In any case, it saves a lot of searching!
I have split a large file into multiple files. However, those files all have the name and extension plank.txt.kk1, plank.txt.kk2, plank.txt.kk3 etc. I would like to rename them to plank1.txt, plank2.txt, plank3.txt etc. Is that possible ? Thanks in advance for any response.
Hi, this appears to be a file type associated with the “ViewChoice by Payroll Associates” app. I do not know it. I suspect you will need to open the KK1 file with that and save it as or convert it to a TXT file.
Unfortunately, that's as far as my help goes. Good luck!
Dear sir,
I recently installed Windows 11 on my laptop.
I think it is an improvement compared to Windows 10, however:
When I now open Explorer on the taskbar, it is not full screen
folder but I have to click on the square at the top right.
All other programs open to fill the desktop.
I have already looked at all kinds of options in Explorer but cannot find a solution.
Can you help me ? Thanks in advance.
Regards,
Victor
Hello, there was a solution for this by creating a shortcut, setting it so that the app opens “Maximized”, but alas. I tried that solution and it no longer works.
mvg
Dear sir / Madam,
-How is it possible to change the order of the files in Quick Access In Windows 11 explorer. In Windows 10 this was a matter of dragging up or down.
-I only see quick access on the right and not in the left navigation pane, can this be adjusted?
I would love to hear from you.
Thanks in advance.
Yours faithfully,
Rob
Hello, unfortunately both are no longer possible. Quick access was previously available in the left menu in Windows 11, but this has been removed. Quick access is now available under “Home”. Towing is no longer possible.
mvg
Good Morning,
I use Windows 11 and am very satisfied with it.
I have already made a few tweaks myself, but I would like to adjust one more thing.
Is it possible to customize the explorer like in Windows 10?
I specifically mean the ones at the top of the bar. In Windows 10 you could immediately click on this, among other things: select all files.
I miss that option in windows 11.
Thanks in advance for your help.
Regards,
Jan
Hello, restoring the old explorer was possible. However, not anymore. Since the Windows 11 22H2 update, which installs every Windows 11 computer, this option is no longer available.
Read more here: https://www.pc-tips.info/tips/windows-tips/oude-windows-verkenner-terugzetten-windows-11/
Unfortunately 🙁
How can I clear the history of explorer? I can't find it in the setting. Thank you in advance
Hello, is this what you mean?
https://www.pc-tips.info/tips/windows-tips/recente-bestanden-verwijderen-in-windows-11/
Success!
thanks everything is ok now
A sincere thank you!!! of a dummy.
Thanks for all this information about File Explorer in W11.
However, I have one more question!
How do I make it so that when I restart File Explorer it shows the tabs that were open when I closed it?
Glad to hear from you and thanks in advance for the response.
Hi, this is not yet part of Explorer. So unfortunately it is not possible for Explorer to remember the already opened tabs for next time 🙂
Very nice tips and clear!
I have 1 more question. Can I also remove the division into today, earlier this week, last week, last month, etc. from explorer (windows 11 home). That doesn't make me feel good at all. That's probably easy to change, but I can't.
Hello, glad it all worked out 🙂 This is certainly possible. In the ribbon, click “Sort”, then “Group by” and then select “(None)”. The week sorting has now been adjusted. You can optionally apply another sorting, such as “Name”. Good luck!
Nice tips here. I have a question about tip 11. How can I indicate which file types I can see on the rightmost submenu. I would only like to see the file types that I often use.
Thank you in advance.
Regards,
Dennis
Hello, this can be done in the following way. Open Notepad. Place the following (custom code) in the text document. Save as “add.reg”.
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.jpg\ShellNew]"NullFile"=""
Change .jpg to the extension. Double click on “add.reg”.
I don't know if all extensions are supported. You will now see a new file type in the “New” context menu.
Read more here: https://www.pc-tips.info/tips/windows-tips/nieuw-bestandstype-toevoegen-aan-contextmenu-nieuw/
Success!
what can I do with the explorer?
It is a standard component that allows you to navigate and edit the Windows file system.
Success!
Hello. I am unable to add a file to Quick Access, the option “Pin to Quick Access” does not appear for files after right-clicking (but it does for folders). Thank you in advance!
Hello, as far as I know this is only possible for a folder or a shortcut to a folder, not for a file or shortcut to a file. Greetings Stefan
Yes, that's what I thought too, but after reading “Tip 9: Adding a folder or file to Quick Access” I got my hopes up… Thank you for the quick response!
I've edited it, it's confusing and it's not right. Thanks for the feedback.
I have a new PC with Windows 11, so I cannot restore anything from Windows 10. Now I want to move photos instead of copying, is that possible? it is inconvenient to have to copy and move photos from a folder, then I have to go back to the previous folder to delete the photos again, very inconvenient. can this be done differently?
Hello, yes that can be done differently. You can select and cut the photos and then paste them. In the right-click menu you will see a pair of scissors, or you can click on “show more options”.
You can also do this with the key combination CTRL + X and then CTRL + V. A third option is to select the file with the mouse and drag it to the desired folder.
Good luck! Greetings, Stefan
Thank you very much Stefan, it works, how nice
Glad it worked! Thanks for your comment 🙂
Hello, in the explorer there is a ribbon (cut, paste, etc.) and the printer can be added here so that you do not always have to go through more options.
Hello, not as far as I know. What you can do is restore the “old” Windows 10 ribbon to Windows 11. This offers a few more options, maybe this will help:
https://www.pc-tips.info/tips/windows-tips/oude-windows-verkenner-terugzetten-windows-11/
Greetings, Stefan
I have a 1TB WD external HD that I use as a backup, but when I look at the properties I notice that it is almost full.
If I look at all folders separately and add them together, I arrive at a maximum of 150GB.
The question is how is that possible?
Thanks in advance
kind regards, Eric
Hello, here are some tips. I hope this helps:
https://forums.tomshardware.com/threads/wd-1tb-showing-full-but-only-200gb-of-files.2507609/
Greetings, Stefan
okay, it worked, I removed everything and formatted it, now everything is okay, the question is always why do things like this happen?
Greetings Eric
How can I create a new folder under “this PC”?
regards Chris
Hello, I am not familiar with “This PC”. It can also be found under “Quick access” in the Windows explorer on the left.
Right-click on a folder you have created in a location and then click “Pin to Quick Access”.
Greetings, Stefan
Thank you.
Helped by creating a new window with “ctrl N”. Was simple mouse click in W10, but disappeared in W11.
Top! Thanks for your comment 🙂
Greetings, Stefan
Best ,
I have the following question: how can I open multiple documents at the same time that are in the same folder. I thought this was possible (earlier versions?)
I'm talking about Windows 11 here
Thanks in advance
Hello, I'm not sure I understand you correctly. I guess you want to select and open multiple documents at once? If you hold down CTRL and click on the documents one by one, you will select them all and you can open them. To select everything in the folder directly, press the CTRL + A key combination and right-click on a document and click Open.
Greetings, Stefan
yes that is what I meant, I tried it but it is limited to a maximum of 10 documents
Windows 10 had buttons in the taskbar to move or copy files. where did this option go in win11? with that option I could move my photos directly to a pre-chosen folder. Now this option has disappeared in Win11.
Hello, I suspect you have the Windows explorer intended and not the taskbar at the bottom where the Start button is also located.
You can restore the old Windows Explorer from Windows 10 to Windows 11 using this instruction: https://www.pc-tips.info/tips/windows-tips/oude-windows-verkenner-terugzetten-windows-11/
Good luck! Greetings, Stefan
I already figured it out, nevermind
If you use detail view, the menu changes and you suddenly cannot close the preview window. If only I had stayed with Windows 10. Or better yet, Mac.
Top! Hopefully the tips helped.
Greetings, Stefan
Item 6 is not there, which looks very different in Windows 11. Screenshot of windows 10 used??
Nope 🙂
Hello, I want to print a photo in Windows 11 explorer. I cannot do this via the top bar.
do you have a solution?
MVG
Hello, that's right. In Windows 11, the “ribbon” and “top bar” do not contain a print option. Right-click on the file you wish to print. Click “show more options” in the menu and then click “Print” in the menu.
Greetings, Stefan
Thank you very much for the clear explanation.
I would like to know how I can immediately see the image in the explorer instead of having to click on it and then it opens with photos.
Similar to showing preview for folders, but with photos.
Hello, you mean an image preview in Windows explorer.
Open Windows Explorer. Click on the “…” in the menu. Then click on Options. Click the View tab and uncheck the option “Always show icons, never thumbnails.”
Click OK and close Options. Then click View in the menu and click small, large or medium icons. You will now see a preview of the image in Windows Explorer.
It is no longer possible to preview the folder contents with images in a folder as was possible in Windows 10. Instead of the folder contents, Windows 11 now shows a white line in the folder icon if there is content in the folder.
Greetings, Stefan
First of all, a compliment for the tips and how clearly they are described.
What has changed in Windows 11 and what I find very annoying is the following: if you right-click on a file, it suddenly says 'Show more options – Shift+F10'. How do I get rid of that? I just want to see all the options immediately when I right-click, not via a submenu. Do you know a solution?
MVG
Coen
Hello Coen, thank you for your message. Glad I could help!
There is certainly a solution for this, you can restore the right-click menu as it is known from previous Windows versions: https://www.pc-tips.info/tips/windows-tips/rechtermuisknop-menu-terugzetten-windows-11/
Good luck! Greetings, Stefan.
Thanks for your explanation.
I currently miss the toolbar at the top of the explorer, especially those buttons that allowed you to “move to” and “copy to”
Those were just the nicest buttons I used.
Can they still be found somewhere?
Best regards,
Jan
Hello Jan, thank you for your message. You can find this information here:
https://www.pc-tips.info/tips/windows-tips/oude-windows-verkenner-terugzetten-windows-11/
Greetings, Stefan
My question:
In Windows 10, you could quickly find a file in a folder in Explorer with many files using quick typing. Example: I am looking for the file automobile. If you quickly type a, u, t, you will arrive at the first file that starts with aut.
This is not possible in Windows 11. If you do it there you will reach the last letter typed, so in this case a file that starts with t.
Do you know a solution to get this back to the Windows 10 way?
Thanks in advance,
Gerard.
Hello Gerard, unfortunately there is no solution for this yet. In the Windows settings there is no option to enable or disable something like this.
Greetings, Stefan