Customizing How File Explorer Looks and Works
Until you change it, File Explorer opens with a default view that presumably pleased some testers in Microsoft's usability labs. To get quickly to the files you want, you'll likely need to customize the view. You can do this in several ways: by changing the layout in File Explorer; by sorting and grouping items; by choosing which items to show and, more important, which to hide; and by choosing folder and search options.
Changing the Layout
You can change the layout in File Explorer to suit your needs. Start by clicking the View tab of the Ribbon to display its contents and choosing settings in the Panes group.
The Panes group contains three buttons:
- Navigation Pane:
Click this button to display the Navigate Pane drop-down menu. You can then click Navigation Pane to turn off the display of the Navigation pane altogether, or click one of the other three commands to enable or disable it: Expand to Open Folder, which controls whether the Navigation pane expands the folders needed to reach the current folder; Show All Folders, which controls whether the Navigation pane displays all folders automatically; or Show Libraries, which controls whether the libraries appear in the Navigation pane. - Preview Pane:
Click this button to display the Preview pane on the right side of the File Explorer window instead of the Details pane.
Note:
The Preview Pane button works as an option button pair with the Details Pane button: Turning Preview Pane on turns Details Pane off, and vice versa. To hide both panes, click the button for the pane that's currently displayed. - Details Pane:
Click this button to display the Details pane on the right side of the File Explorer window instead of the Preview pane.
Customizing the Quick Access View
The Quick Access view appears at the top of the Navigation pane in File Explorer windows by default. As its name suggests, the point of Quick Access is to give you rapid access to the files and folders you need, so you'll likely want to customize its contents to suit your needs.
Here's how to customize the Quick Access view: Add an item. To keep a particular file or folder in Quick Access, select it and then choose Home, Clipboard, Pin to Quick Access. Alternatively, right-click or longpress the item and then click Pin to Quick Access on the shortcut menu.
- Remove an item:
Right-click or long-press the item and then click Unpin from Quick Access on the shortcut menu. - Rearrange the items:
Drag items up or down the list as needed. - Remove recently used files:
Choose File, Change Folder and Search Options and uncheck the Show Recently Used Files in Quick Access check box in the Privacy group on the General tab of the Folder Options dialog box. Click OK. - Remove frequently used folders:
Choose File, Change Folder and Search Options, and uncheck the Show Frequently Used Folders in Quick Access check box in the Privacy group on the General tab of the Folder Options dialog box. Click OK.
Choosing How to Lay Out the Items
You can use the controls in the Layout group of the View tab of the Ribbon to control how files and folders appear in the main part of the File Explorer window. You have the following eight layout options; if the last few don't appear, click the More button in the lower-right corner of the Layout group to display the others.
- Extra Large Icons:
This view displays a massive icon for each file, with the filename under the icon. It's most useful for sorting through graphics, because the icon is large enough to identify most files. The icons appear in a grid pattern, at least if the window is large enough.
Tip:
When using Extra Large Icons view, display the Details pane rather than the Preview pane, because the icon is effectively a preview. - Large Icons:
This view displays a large icon for each file, with the filename under the icon. The icons appear in a grid pattern. - Medium Icons
This view displays a medium-size icon for each file, with the filename under the icon. The icons appear in a grid pattern. - Small Icons:
This view displays a small icon for each file, to the left of the filename. - List:
This view displays a list of the folder names and filenames. Scroll right rather than down to see other items in the list. - Details:
This view displays a list of the filenames and folder names together with other columns of information such as Date, Type, and Size. You can sort the rows by clicking the column heading by which you want to sort. - Tiles:
This view displays a tile for each item. The tile shows a small icon, the filename, the file type, and the size. - Content:
This view displays a tablelike layout with one item per row. For each item, a small icon appears, followed by the filename, the type, and the size.
Sorting and Grouping Items
You can use the controls in the Current View group on the View tab of the Ribbon to sort and group items however you find most helpful. These are the controls:
- Sort By:
Click this drop-down menu and choose the item you want to sort by, such as Name, Date, Type, or Size. You can then click again and click Ascending to sort in ascending order (A to Z, low numbers to high, older to newer, and so on) or Descending to sort in descending order (Z to A, high numbers to low, and so forth).
Note:
The selection of sortable fields depends on the view and type of folder you have chosen. Details view is usually the best view for sorting items because it gives you a wide choice of columns for sorting. You can click Choose Columns on the Sort By drop-down menu and then choose the columns and their order in the Choose Details dialog box that opens. - Group By:
Click this drop-down menu and choose the item by which you want to group the items, such as Date or Type. Here, too, you can click Choose Columns and use the Choose Details dialog box to choose which columns to display and the order in which to display them. - Add Columns:
You can click this drop-down menu and then click to check or uncheck the items on the menu to control which items appear. Again, you can click Choose Columns and select columns using the Choose Details dialog box. - Size All Columns to Fit:
You can click this button to resize all columns to fit their contents. How helpful this is depends on how big a screen and window you're using and how well the information fits in it.
Choosing Which Items to Show and Which to Hide
The controls in the Show/Hide group on the View tab of the Ribbon enable you to control which items are visible and which are not. These are your options:
- Item Check Boxes:
Check this check box if you want Windows to display a check box on each item as you hold the pointer over it. You can click the item (or the check box) to check the box, selecting the item. The advantage of displaying check boxes is that you can select multiple items easily without having to hold down Ctrl or Shift and without dragging. They also make it easier to select items when you are using a touchscreen. - File Name Extensions:
Check this check box if you want File Explorer to display filename extensions, such as the .xlsx file extensions on Excel workbook files or the .txt file extensions on text files. - Hidden Items:
Check this check box if you want File Explorer to display hidden files and folders. - Hide Selected Items:
You can click this button to apply the Hidden attribute to files or to remove the attribute from them. When the Hidden attribute is on for an item, Windows hides that item-unless you check the Hidden Items check box to display hidden items.
