Revisiting Windows 11’s File Explorer

Topic

New Reply

WINDOWS 11 By Will Fastie Have there been any recent improvements? In a word, no. The new File Explorer is not getting any love and continues to suffe
[See the full post at: Revisiting Windows 11’s File Explorer]

8 users thanked author for this post.

WSGeo, fisher75, Steve S., Cybertooth, KB6OJS, IBM1130, DLivesInTexas, lmacri

Reply | Quote

Replies

IMO, the last sentence is of most concern. The Windows monopoly (more or less) shows it’s darker side more frequently. With ‘Windows as a service’ there’s not much the user can do in the direction of Microsoft. In the days you had to pay Microsoft for Windows, users could simply decide NOT to buy a particular version of Windows if it was sub-standard. And that’s a great incentive for companies to sell quality.

This isn’t Microsoft alone – all major software companies sell their stuff ‘as a service’ or subscription. Don’t like version x? Too bad. Either stop using our product or get used to it.

The good thing is, the past repeats itself over and over again. So we might see companies evolve selling perpetual licenses again, so the choice is back with the user.

1 user thanked author for this post.

Will Fastie

Reply | Quote

Simon_Weel wrote:

So we might see companies evolve selling perpetual licenses again,

I was a stock analyst following PC software companies in the early ’90s. Even then, when 99% of software was sold on a perpetual basis and growth tracked with ever-increasing PC sales, the financial markets were becoming concerned about predictable, recurring revenue. Subscriptions provide that.

There are perpetual products popping up to exploit this trend. But Windows? Where else are you going to go if you want Windows?

1 user thanked author for this post.

opti1

Reply | Quote

An interesting piece but I don’t have any spinning discs when I view my OneDrive files in Win 11 File Explorer. Maybe it’s because I’m in the UK.

Also, regarding the default location of folders located in the user profile – some years ago, several Windows versions ago, I was concerned about losing data if the C:\ drive experienced some catastrophic event that affected it, so I moved my data to another drive. It was quite easy to move, just select the Location tab of the relevant folder’s properties and use the Move button to navigate to your desired location. I’ve attached a screencap of my Download folder’s properties showing it located on the D:\ drive. MY Documents and Pictures folders are located on NAS (Network Attached Storage) devices. I would imagine that this technique could be used to circumvent the mandatory transfer of users’ files to OneDrive but I haven’t encountered that issue.

Reply | Quote

Your comments about “(Not responding)” are some that I’ve recently started to see with several apps on two new PC’s with Win 11 (dropbox, Roboform, Steam, etc.).  While the download datarate is down (200-300Mbps), the upload datarate is mostly under 1kbps.  Speed tests from my router are near my 1Gbps ISP service for both upload and download.  Speed tests from my browser seem to be near the same.  However, using any windows app, the download is cut to single digit Mbps and the upload can be 0-45kbps.  There is some history related to this issue with Win 11 but not many solid solutions.  I was actually going to search for or open a topic on this issue here today.

Reply | Quote

ParksidePeter wrote:

’ve attached a screencap of my Download folder’s properties showing it located on the D:\ drive.

I should have been clearer about my Download (singular) folder. I do not change Windows’ default setting for Downloads, but I don’t leave anything significant in it. I move everything manually to Download, which today is housed on my mirrored D: drive. I’ve had that folder for over 30 years, moved from PC to PC over all that time. It’s got a lot of stuff in it, much more than I would be willing to commit to the default location.

Also, many downloads are temporary. In such cases, I use the downloaded file as needed and then dispose of it.

Reply | Quote

I wasn’t intending to say anything particular about the Downloads folder, just picked it at random to illustrate the point about moving the contents of default folders.

1 user thanked author for this post.

Will Fastie

Reply | Quote

ParksidePeter wrote:

moving the contents of default folders

Exactly. My point is that I do not move those folders, for reasons I make in the article. I just keep all my content elsewhere to keep it out Microsoft’s or OneDrive’s clutches.

Reply | Quote

Will Fastie wrote:

Revisiting Windows 11’s File Explorer

Have there been any recent improvements?

In a word, no. The new File Explorer is not getting any love …

Copilot disagrees:

File Explorer in Windows 11 has seen several recent updates aimed at enhancing user experience and functionality:

1. Improved Archive Handling: File Explorer now supports opening and extracting additional archive formats like RAR, 7z, and TAR. A new wizard has been introduced to create archives in formats like 7z and TAR.

2. Performance Boosts: The latest updates have optimized the performance of extracting zipped files, especially when dealing with large archives containing numerous small files.

3. Context Menu Enhancements: Labels have been added to icons in the context menu, making it easier to identify actions like copy, paste, and delete.

4. Metadata Editing for Images: Users can now edit metadata for image files, including PNG and JPG formats, directly within File Explorer.

5. Conflict Resolution for Archives: When extracting files with naming conflicts, users can now batch-apply actions like skipping or renaming all conflicting files.

6. Accessibility Improvements: Expanded support for text scaling in warning and error dialogs has been added, improving accessibility.

These updates reflect Microsoft’s ongoing efforts to make File Explorer more versatile and user-friendly.

Reply | Quote

Comparing the assessments of Will Fastie and Copilot. Now there’s a comparison fraught with potential issues. Perhaps Mr. Fastie and Copilot disagree in the meaning of “recent”, or perhaps in the meaning of “improvement”. Have both used Win 11 File Explorer? I’m sure Mr. Fastie has but I doubt that Copilot has (I’m trying to form a mental image of an AI model actually using Win 11 File explorer – or any other piece of software for that matter).

The fact that Mr. Fastie has used Win 11 File Explorer gives him an extreme edge in credibility.

And then there’s an issue with conflict of interest. Copilot, a product of Microsoft, plugging Win 11 File Explorer, another product of Microsoft. Couldn’t possibly be any conflict there, right?

I also wonder if anyone has checked Copilot’s assessment of Win 11 File Explorer for accuracy, i. e., checking to see whether it’s hallucinating.

I’ll take Mr. Fastie for the win.

7 users thanked author for this post.

opti1, Lars220, Rand Alonin, Cybertooth, Will Fastie, WSrlhess, PKCano

Reply | Quote

I also wonder if anyone has checked Copilot’s assessment of Win 11 File Explorer. . .

I’d like to see Copilot’s assessment of itself, that is Copilot’s assessment of Copilot. I just tried a number of different Google search combinations to see if I could find any. I got a bunch of Copilot Readiness Assessment hits and similar stuff but nothing about Copilot assessing itself. Is that even possible?

1 user thanked author for this post.

Cybertooth

Reply | Quote

b wrote:

Copilot disagrees:

Opinions differ.

Reply | Quote

I use the free portable Q-Dir with 4 panes (C drive, D drive, external SSD drive, network drive) to manage files.

Reply | Quote

Good article! I like the new tabbed interface finally in the W11 version of File Explorer.

As to the spinning circles, might that have something to do with indexing? I generally leave indexing off.

As to One Drive–my original joke years (a decade?) ago that this was truth in advertising…there was one drive in Redmond that everyone shared. It’s gotten better than that, but I use it more for very infrequent things.

I have Dropbox (I’m considering migrating to sync.com for data sovereignty reasons) and Backblaze (where I’m going to move my files to the CA East location). I also have a small piece of Google Drive (200 GB) for those clients who prefer that mode of receiving files.

1 user thanked author for this post.

Will Fastie

Reply | Quote

Microsoft is never going to give enough “love” to the File Explorer.  I resigned myself to that fact years ago.

My preference is go to to a third-party app to get a better solution.  My choice among several is xplorer² from Zabkat.  The best part is the dual-pane mode of operation.  Although you can turn off the second pane, I have no idea why anyone would want to do so.  See the website for details, an eval version, and I believe the “Lite” version is free.  I switched years ago and have never looked back.

//Steve//

 

1 user thanked author for this post.

Rand Alonin

Reply | Quote

Update: In my article, I said that Windows would not format a drive (in my case, a USB thumb drive) with FAT32 for anything larger than a 32GB partition. I also mentioned that the visual UI in File Explorer did not offer FAT32 as an option for larger drives. When using the format command at the command prompt, attempts to format beyond 32GB failed.

Yesterday, I finally upgraded my PC to Window 11 24H2 (26100.3624).

Now, the format command will format FAT32 beyond 32GB. The visual UI still does not offer the option.

Seems like a long time coming, but I suppose I must put this in the progress category.

1 user thanked author for this post.

KB6OJS

Reply | Quote

Thanks for the information, Will.  I always enjoy your articles and posts, very informative and easy to digest.  Much appreciated!

FYI: There is a “cool tool” for formatting flash drives and SSDs.  Oddly enough, it’s called SD Card Formatter, developed by Tuxera but can be found at the SD Association’s website here.

It’s not a replacement for formatting drives from the disk context menu in File Explorer, rather it’s a separate app.  I keep it on my taskbar because I use it quite frequently.  It will only work on drives like SDs, thumb drives, and SSDs, and will not show hard drives in the available devices list.

A very handy item.  I use it to wipe SD cards that I use in my digital camera, or MicroSD cards from tablets and phones.  I have a few of the old 2Gb SD cards left over from when I had to have some cheap cards for my camera, and when I used the “Overwrite” formatting option it apparently did a “low-level” format of the cards and even though labelled as 2Gb that process yielded 4Gb on three or four of them!

Just thought everyone would be interested in a flash drive and SSD formatting alternative to native Windows’ process.  Enjoy!

//Steve//

 

2 users thanked author for this post.

Will Fastie, Cybertooth

Reply | Quote

Updated Update: I should be more careful, but I jumped the gun. The format of my 64GB USB thumb drive did not complete. I was lulled into thinking it would, and I dashed off the previous note while the format was in progress, without waiting for the final outcome. My excuse is that during the previous test that I mentioned in the article, I received the failure message immediately. This time, the format seemed to be making progress, so I posted the update above.

So, Windows 11 24H2 (6100.3624) will not format a FAT32 drive for capacities above 32GB.

2 users thanked author for this post.

Cybertooth, KB6OJS

Reply | Quote

WSrlhess wrote:

As to the spinning circles, might that have something to do with indexing?

I don’t think so, but I don’t index either, so I can’t tell.

Indexing was a good thing 20 years ago. Today, PCs are so fast that non-indexed searching happens very quickly. I searched my entire documents folder looking for a word inside a document. It failed, but it took less than a minute.

Reply | Quote