The 11 Best Windows 10 File Explorer Tips for Speedy File Management - MUO - MakeUseOf

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Windows File Explorer is the primary way most people interact with the OS. As such, learning to use its many tools can make a world of difference in the way you work on your PC.

To get you started with being a power user, here are the 11 best File Explorer tips and tricks that you need to know.

1. Open Multiple File Explorer Windows and Dock Them Side by Side

Multiple File Explorer windows can come in handy when you want to move stuff or quickly jump between different folders. You can open as many File Explorer windows as you need by hitting the Win + E key. Hit the combination once to open one window, use it twice for two, and so on.

You can also dock two windows in a variety of configurations by using Win + Left/Right/Up/Down arrow keys. For instance, if you want to dock two windows side by side, open the windows and hit Win + Left/Right.

2. Displaying Shortcut Keys in File Explorer

Windows 10 has too many shortcuts to remember. Thankfully, you can hit the ALT key inside File Explorer to reveal the shortcut keys.

Inside a File Explorer window, hitting ALT will reveal the letters that correspond to different options inside the menu on top. For instance, press ALT and you will see that the File option has an F on top of it. Now, if you hit F, it will expand the File panel.

The Quick Access Toolbar is the list of options that appears in the top left corner of a File Explorer window. You can customize this list to appear below the Ribbon menu, add new options, and remove options, among other things.

Clicking on the arrow to the right of the Quick Access Toolbar will bring up a list of everything that you can change about the toolbar.

To add a feature from the Ribbon menu to the Quick Access Toolbar, right-click on the option that you want to add and choose Add to Quick Access Toolbar.

4. Change the Target Folder for File Explorer

If you want to change the folder your File Explorer window opens in, open a File Explorer window, and click on File in the top left corner. Then, go to Options > General and set the Open File Explorer to an option of your choosing from the list.

Unfortunately, you can only choose between This PC and Quick Access.

5. Change Folder Layout

File Explorer allows you to change the layout of a folder through its View panel. Clicking on the View panel reveals Panes, Layout, Current View, and Show/hide sections.

First, in the Panes section, you can customize the Navigation pane by clicking on Navigation pane and choosing an option from the list.

Next, you can change the layout of the folders in the Layout section. You can choose from a range of options here. For instance, if you click on Extra large icons, all icons in the folder will expand. Try all of these options and see which one fits your needs better.

In the Current View, you can decide how to sort the content of the folders by hitting Sort by and selecting from the list below. Plus, you can also group the contents by sorting them in the form of groups or adding new columns.

Finally, you can use the Show/hide section to hide or show individual files. While you can hide files this way, it is better to learn how to properly hide files in Windows 10.

6. Remove Recent Files and Folders

If you want to remove recent files or folders from Quick access, navigate to View > Options > Privacy.

In the Privacy section, uncheck Show recently used files in Quick Access and Show frequently used folders in Quick Access.

Clearing recent files from File Explorer

While you are at it, press Clear to delete your File Explorer history.

7. Add or Remove Folders From Quick Access

To add any folder to Quick Access, right-click on the folder and select Pin to Quick Access.

Similarly, to remove a folder from Quick Access, right-click on the folder inside the Quick Access panel and choose Unpin from Quick Access.

8. Rotate an Image From File Explorer

You can rotate images from inside File Explorer by simply right-clicking on an image and selecting Rotate left or Rotate right.

If you want to rotate more than one picture, open File Explorer by pressing Win + E, navigate to the images, and select the pictures that you want to rotate.

Next, click on Picture Tools under the Manage section and select Rotate left or Rotate right.

File Explorer’s New Items menu only allows you to add certain file types. And, unfortunately, you can’t add any new file type to the list without editing the Registry items.

That said, it isn’t hard to add something to the Registry.

Create a new Notepad file, and add the following three lines in the document:

“Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.XXX\ShellNew]
"NullFile"=""

Next, replace the .XXX with the file extension of the file type that you want to include in the New Items menu. For instance, if you want to include an image file type, you need to add .jpg or .png. Save the document as filetype.reg.

Finally, open the document that you just saved and click Yes when asked if you want to edit the registry.

Now, the file type will appear in the New Items menu.

Did you know you can share files from inside the File Explorer? It is pretty easy. All you have to do is select the file that you want to share, click on the Share button in the top Ribbon menu, hit the big green Share button, and choose the contact that you want to share the file with.

If you want to know more about this, here are the quickest ways to share files from File Explorer.

11. Fix File Explorer When It Is Slow

File Explorer can sometimes grind to a halt. If you are facing such slowdowns, restarting File Explorer can fix the problem.

Open Task Manager by pressing Ctrl + Shift + Esc and select Windows Explorer from the list.

Next, click on Restart to reboot Windows Explorer.

If this doesn't work, here are some other ways to fix the Windows File Explorer when it slows down.

Mastering Windows File Explorer Can Be an Asset

If you aren’t big on using the Command Line Interface, Windows File Explorer is your only option to get around the OS. So, take the time to master it can be incredibly rewarding.

And if the built-in File Explorer tools aren’t enough, there are plenty of third-party options that can enhance your File Explorer experience.

The 10 Best Windows File Explorer Extensions for File Management

If you use Windows 10, you're using File Explorer. Try out these handy extensions to get more out of File Explorer!

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About The Author

Fawad Murtaza (53 Articles Published)

Fawad is a full-time freelance writer. He loves technology and food. When he is not eating or writing about Windows, he is either playing video games or daydreaming about traveling.