After acting on most requested features like drag and drop support for the taskbar and the ability to display the clock on multiple monitors, seems Microsoft has finally introduced Tabs in File Explorer on Windows 11. The feature is rolling out to insiders in Windows 11 22H2, here is how you can enable it.
Highlights
- Micorsoft has released Windows 11 build 25136 with the tabbed interface for File Explorer
- You can enable it using a third-party tool.
- Tabbed File Explorer supports dark mode and horizontal scrolling when you open plenty of tabs.
- Just like the Web browser allows users to go through open tabs with shortcuts, for Tabbled File Explorer, you can use Ctrl+ Tab and Ctrl+shift+Tab shortcuts to navigate through tabs in a forwarding and backward fashion.
Users have been accustomed to using tabs in a Web browser. For a long time, there has been a huge request from Micorsoft Community and Windows users to bring tabs to File Explorer.
Microsoft has experimentally tested Tabs for Explorer in Windows 10 with the name “Windows Sets”. The feature had brought tabs to other apps in Windows, including Explorer. The company had dropped it later.
Windows 11 build 25136
- Microsoft has released build 25136 to insiders with Tabs for File Explorer.
- The builds also show dynamic Widget content on the taskbar
How to enable Tabs for File Explorer in Windows 11 22H2
- Visit Github and download ViveTool
- Extract its files to a folder
- Open command Prompt as administrator
- Copy and paste the previously extracted ViveTool folder path in the Command window and run the following command
- vivetool addconfig 34370472 2
- Close the command dialog and restart your computer
If you now Open File Explorer, you’ll now notice + icon to open New Tab. You can also open right-click on one of the folders, you’ll notice the “Open in new tab” option, use it to open multiple folders and drives.
Disable File Explorer Tabs in Windows 11
To restore the default File Explorer without Tabs,
replace step 5 in the above instructions with the following command
vivetool delconfig 34370472 2
Note: Microsoft has officially announced Tabbed Explorer with build 25136.
Windows 11 22H2 build 22621
Microsoft has released Windows 11 2022 Update aka Windows 11 22H2 to the public with Task Manager with Dark Mode and accent color support, Start Menu folders, New flyouts for volume slider, and other features.
The Tabbed File Explorer is available to the public but hidden by default, here is how you can use a third-party tool to enable tabs and a new navigation pane.
Enable Tabs for File Explorer on Windows 11 build 22621.169
- Visit this Github page
- Download the ViveTool Zip file
- Extract files to a folder
- Copy the Pathf of ViveTool folder
- Click Start, type cmd
- Select Run as administrator
- Go to the ViveTool folder Pathe in File Explorer
- Run the following three commands
vivetool /enable /id:36354489
vivetool /enable /id:37634385
vivetool /enable /id:39145991 - Restart the computer.
After reboot, when you open File explorer in Windows 11, you’ll notice it will have tabs support and a navigation pane layout design.
Final words: The much-awaited Windows 11 22H2 release has got Tabbed File Explorer. The feature is rolling out, you can enable it and enjoy the tab experience in File Explorer if you follow the instructions mentioned above in the article.
What do you say about Microsoft Adding support for Tabs to File Explorer in Windows 11? Let us know in the comments below.
More on Windows 11:
How to enable the new redesigned “Open with dialog” in Windows 11
How to make Windows 11’s Win+X menu work without crashing Explorer
How to get rid of the ‘System requirements not met’ watermark on Windows 11 Unsupported PCs
Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge Scrollbars to get Fluent design
