File Explorer helps you manage, view, and launch the files on your PC, but even if you've been using Windows for ages, there are likely features in File Explorer you've never tried. And if you're new to Windows 11, a lot has changed in recent years.
Within File Explorer, you’ll see a Quick Access section, a dedicated Share button, and OneDrive integration for easy file syncing. Plus, Microsoft has added Copilot AI support. Read on for tips on how these and other features can help you more easily use File Explorer in Windows.
1. Customize Quick Access View
In Windows 11, the Quick Access section of File Explorer appears in the Home section; in Windows 10, it appears at the top of the left pane. Since this section houses the folders you use most often, you can customize the Quick Access view to make it more helpful.
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To add any folder in File Explorer to Quick Access, right-click the folder and select Pin to Quick Access from the pop-up menu. Alternatively, drag and drop the folder into the Quick Access section. Note that you can pin local folders, network drive folders, and folders from integrated cloud services such as OneDrive or Dropbox. You can even right-click on the File Explorer icon on the Windows taskbar, and your pinned folders for Quick Access appear in the menu.
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Not crazy about Quick Access? Right-click a folder and select Unpin from Quick Access to remove it. You can also stop the feature from automatically adding frequently used files and folders. Recently used files will disappear and no longer populate, while your frequently used folders will still appear but stop populating.
In Windows 11, click the "See more" ellipsis icon at the top and select Options. In Windows 10, you'll need to click the View tab at the top to display the View ribbon. Click the Options icon just above its down arrow. Under the General tab, go to the Privacy section and click the checkboxes for Show recently used files in Quick access and Show frequently used folders in Quick access to turn them off. Next, click the drop-down menu for Open File Explorer to and change it to This PC, then click OK.
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2. Show or Hide File Extensions
File extensions are a key way of revealing the types of files displayed in File Explorer. A file with a .DOCX extension is a Word document. If it has a .JPG extension, it's a JPEG image file. And anything with a .PDF extension is an Adobe PDF file. But if you don't want to see the extension, you can easily hide it.
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In Windows 11, click the View menu at the top and move your mouse to Show. For Windows 10, click the View tab at the top to display the View ribbon. Click File name extensions to turn the extensions on or off.
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3. Display Your Libraries
Windows offers a Libraries feature that lets you house your most-used folders, but it doesn’t show your libraries by default. If you like to use libraries and want them to be easily accessible, you first have to set them to display in File Explorer.
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To do this in Windows 11, click the "See more" ellipsis icon and select Options > View. Scroll down the list of items and check the box next to Show libraries, then click OK. In Windows 10, click the View tab and then click the Navigation pane icon. From the pop-up menu, click Show libraries. Your libraries then appear toward the bottom of the left pane in File Explorer.
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4. View Different Panes in File Explorer
File Explorer offers various panes to display certain information about folders and files. You can turn those panes on or off to see or hide specific details. To start, the Navigation pane on the left side of the window displays all the drives and folders on your PC, so you can easily explore them. You'll likely want to leave this pane alone, but you can turn it off to create more space for the other pane.
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In Windows 11, select the View menu, move to Show, and uncheck the Navigation pane option. In Windows 10, select the View tab in the ribbon, click the Navigation pane icon, and uncheck the check mark next to Navigation pane. To re-enable the pane, just click the icon and select the command again.
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The Preview pane lets you see the contents of certain types of files without actually opening them, such as photos, Word documents, Excel spreadsheets, PDFs, and more. It's a handy way to peek at a file without launching its associated program.
To enable the Preview pane in Windows 11, select View > Show, and then check the Preview pane option. Now, when you select a particular file, you'll see it previewed in the right pane of File Explorer. In Windows 10 File Explorer, click the View tab and then choose Preview pane.
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The Details pane shows you key data on individual folders and files, such as the name, size, and last modified date. To enable this pane in Windows 11, select the View menu, move to Show, and check Details pane. Note that you can display the Preview pane or the Details pane, but not both together. In Windows 10, click the Details pane option on the View tab of the ribbon.
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Right-clicking a folder or file in File Explorer triggers a menu with a series of commands that vary depending on what you’ve selected. At a minimum, the menu features commands for Cut, Copy, Paste, Delete, Rename, Send to, Share, and Properties. Additional commands also appear based on what applications you’ve installed that hook into this menu. Just right-click on any object to see and use the menu.
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The problem with the context menu is that the more applications you install, the longer and more cluttered it becomes. To deal with this problem in Windows 11, Microsoft pared it down by displaying certain core commands as icons and removing others completely. To see everything in the menu, you'll need to right-click on a file or folder and then choose Show more options.
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If you don't like this extra step, you can restore the classic context menu via a Registry hack. Open the Registry editor by clicking the Search icon and typing regedit. Open Registry Editor, then navigate to the following folder: HKEYCURRENTUSER\SOFTWARE\CLASSES\CLSID. Right-click the CLSID folder, select New and then Key. Name the new key {86ca1aa0-34aa-4e8b-a509-50c905bae2a2}.
Right-click the new key, select New, and then Key. Name that new key InprocServer32. Double-click the key named Default inside the InprocServer32 key. Make sure the value data for the Default key is blank. Now, restart Windows and then reopen File Explorer. Right-click on an object, and you should see the full legacy context menu back in place. To revert to the new menu, reopen the Registry Editor and delete the {86ca1aa0-34aa-4e8b-a509-50c905bae2a2} key you created.
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6. Compress and Uncompress Files
File Explorer includes built-in functionality to compress and decompress files as zip archives. To compress a series of files in Windows 10, select the files and then right-click them. From the menu, move to Send to and select Compressed (zipped) folder. The zipped file is created, which you can then rename.
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Windows 11 offers more compression formats than just ZIP. To check this out, you'll need the new context-sensitive menu and not the old one revived through the above Registry Hack. Select and right-click the files you wish to compress, then move to the Compress to entry in the menu. You’ll see three methods: ZIP file, 7z file, and TAR file. Choosing Additional Options lets you select the format, compression method, and other options. Select the method you wish to use and then rename the resulting file if you wish.
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You can share folders and files directly from File Explorer. Right-click the folder or file and select Share from the pop-up menu. The Share window displays a list of people and apps with which you can share that file. The apps listed will depend on the type of file and which programs you already have installed. Select the person or app you want to receive that item.
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8. Manage Your Photos and Images
To some extent, you can tweak your photos and other image files in File Explorer. Right-click a photo in File Explorer and use the Rotate right or Rotate left commands to change the orientation of the image. To set a photo as your Windows wallpaper, right-click it and select Set as desktop background from the menu.
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9. Search for Files and Documents
You can search for specific files by name, extension, or other attributes. You can also use the always popular ? or * wildcard characters to seek out files with certain names or extensions. In File Explorer, click the folder that contains the file you wish to find. In the upper-right corner, you'll see a search field with a magnifying-glass icon.
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Let's say you're looking for a file with the word "business" in the title or contents. In the search field, type the word and then press Enter to run the search. You can further expand your search to include every file of a specific type. Maybe you're looking for all PNG files. Simply type *.png in the search field. You’ll notice the Search menu or ribbon contains a host of other ways to refine the search, including by kind, size, modified date, and other properties.
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10. Ask Copilot for Help
Finally, you can tap into an AI-powered assistant to work with your files. Microsoft Copilot is built into both Windows 11 and 10, allowing you to ask questions about specific files. To try this out, right-click a file and select the Ask Copilot command. Copilot then opens, allowing you to ask the AI questions about the file. For example, you might ask it to summarize a PDF or other document, or you may ask it to describe a scene in a photograph.
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In Windows 11, you can take the AI a few steps further. Right-click an image, for example, and go to AI Actions from the pop-up menu. You’ll see such commands as Visual Search with Bing, Blur Background with Photos, Erase Objects with Photos, and Remove Background with Paint. Choose any of those options, and the respective app will pop up to run that command on the image.
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Lance Whitney
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I've been working for PCMag since early 2016 writing tutorials, how-to pieces, and other articles on consumer technology. Beyond PCMag, I've written news stories and tutorials for a variety of other websites and publications, including CNET, ZDNet, TechRepublic, Macworld, PC World, Time, US News & World Report, and AARP Magazine. I spent seven years writing breaking news for CNET as one of the site’s East Coast reporters. I've also written two books for Wiley & Sons—Windows 8: Five Minutes at a Time and Teach Yourself Visually LinkedIn.
I've used Windows, Office, and other Microsoft products for years so I'm well versed in that world. I also know the Mac quite well. I'm always working with iOS, iPadOS, watchOS, and Android on my various mobile devices. And these days, I write a lot about AI, so that's become another key area for me.
My wife always jokes about all the tech products we have around the house, but I manage to put them to good use for my articles. I like Lenovo computers, so I own a couple of Lenovo desktops and several laptops. I have three MacBooks and a Mac mini. For my mobile life and work, I use an iPhone 16 Pro, iPad Pro, and iPad mini as well as an Apple Watch. But since I write about Android, I own several Android phones and tablets. Like any tech person, I have a cabinet full of cables, wires, and assorted mysterious gadgets. And when it's time to take a break from writing, I have an old Xbox 360 and Nintendo Wii, both of which I use for exercise and fitness games.
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