How to Use File Explorer in Windows 11 should be an easy puzzle for you. File Explorer is an app whose name is a bit descriptive, but it only offers you a taste f what you can make use of.
Stalwarts of windows may well remember the days when the app was officially called windows explorer, but since windows 10 it has been file explorer – although just about everybody refers to it as simply explorer.
How to Use File Explorer in Windows 11
Windows 11 has worked on improving the app, most recently introducing tabs, saving you from having multiple windows open immediately.
At its most basic, the app offers you a way to navigate the contents of your hard drive, managing and accessing files and folders as you go on. But there is it than this, and there are tons of scope for customization. Well, this article would offer you all the details that you need to know.
Changing The View Options
More options are still available through the View menu where you get to select icons of different sizes and decide if you are willing to see more information such as the size next to individual items.
The view menu also would allow you to toggle the compact views on and off. You might want to experiment t see what works very well for you. The Show submenu would allow you to show or hide various optional components like the very handy preview pane or the equally useful details pane.
Also, it is worth pointing out the two small buttons right on the far right of the file explorer status bar that would enable you to quickly toggle between large icons and details.
Expanding the Sidebar icons
There are tons of ways to go around in your file explorer when you wish to navigate your files and your folders. If you click on This PC icon in the navigation pane, the right-hand pane would display several systems folders as well as the drives that you connected to your computer.
If you get your cursor right over this pc, you would see a small arrow that pops up, and if you click this the content on this PC would expand right in the navigation pane. Alternatively, you can just double-click this PC for the same effect.
Expanding the Folders
The left and right panes can be used in slightly different ways, but both of them would browse through your files.
Just as you have clicked this PC to view its contents, you can choose to do the same using your C: drive – or you can double-click it, or hover and click the arrow in other to expand it in the navigation pane.
With your C: drive selected, you get to see the contents in the right-hand pane – there’ll be folders that include windows, Users, and program files – and you can drill down to see the sub-folders.
Launching File Explorer
There are several ways to launch file explorer, starting off by clicking on the shortcut located in the taskbar – it’s the yellow folder icon. However, you also get to find a shortcut in the start menu, or you would be offered the option of making use of the Windows + E Keyboard shortcut.
There are several apps component of the windows to note – There is the main toolbar located at the top, and under this, there is a navigation button, address bar, and bar box. In a lot of ways, file explorer is more like a web browser. To the left is the navigation pane and the large, main section to the right would offer you details of the currently selected folder or location.
Customizing the View
As you keep on browsing you can make use of the back and forward arrows right on the navigation bar just as you would in a web browser to skip back and forth, while the up button would allow you to jump up to the parent of the current folder.
There are tons of ways you can work on the way your files and folders get displayed, starting with making use of the sort button. You can choose to select the criteria that should be used to order files and folders – such as name, size, creation date, and so on – and indicate whether you want to use ascending or descending sorting.
