File Explorer (23H2)

File Explorer is the Windows 11 file management application, and it looks and works much like its predecessors in Windows 10 and earlier Windows versions.

But there have been some changes since Windows 10 and the initial release of Windows 11. In addition to its simpler new appearance, File Explorer now features a tabbed user interface similar to what's found in Microsoft Edge and other web browsers, an updated home page with new customization choices, an updated navigation pane, a new Gallery view for your photo collection, a Details pane with file thumbnails and other contextual information, and more. So this chapter will focus largely on these new and improved features.
Access multiple file system views with tabs
The addition of a tabbed user interface is the most obvious change to File Explorer in Windows 11. As with the similar feature in web browsers and other apps, File Explorer tabs lets you manage multiple views, in this case of your PC's file system, at the same time in the same window.
Create and close a tab

To create a new tab, select the "Add new tab" button ("+") in File Explorer's title bar. The new tab will automatically display the File Explorer home page, which is the Home view, by default.

You can also type CTRL + T to create a new tab.
To open a new tab to a specific location, right-click that location--in the navigation pane or elsewhere in File Explorer--and choose "Open in new tab."

To close a tab, select its "Close tab" button (it resembles an "X").
You can also type CTRL + W to close the currently selected tab.
Basic tab management
Each tab works like its own File Explorer window, so you can navigate to whatever file system location you like in each.

To navigate between tabs, simply select the tab you wish to display with the mouse. Or, type CTRL + TAB to switch to the next tab in the row. Or, type CTRL + SHIFT + TAB to switch to the previous tab.

To reorder the tabs, grab the tab you wish to move and then drag it left or right to a new location in the row of tabs. Release it when it's where you want it.

Drag files between tabs
One of the many reasons you may have opened two File Explorer windows in the past was so that you could drag one or more files between two different locations in the file system. But the new tabs in File Explorer allow you to do so as well.

To get started, make sure you have at least two tabs open: one for the location that contains the file you wish to copy or move, and one that is navigated to the destination where you would like that file to go. Then, simply drag the file up to the row of tabs and over the tab representing the destination. Then, drag it down into the files area and release it.

Previously, you could drag files into the File Explorer address bar as well. But this no longer works in Windows 11 version 23H2: As noted later in the chapter, the File Explorer address bar has been modernized in this release, and that feature was left beh...