Windows 11 File Explorer

Overview

File Explorer is a tool to browse and access files, folders, and drives on Windows 11 PC. The easiest and quick way to launch it is from the Taskbar. The tool has significant changes in Windows 11 version.

File Explorer Windows 11

How to Launch?

There are multiple ways to launch File explorer on Windows 11. Click on the Folder icon in the Taskbar.

Alternatively, Search for the application in the Search window. Click on the application search result.

The keyboard shortcut to launch the tool is:

Windows Key + X >> Choose File Explorer from the menu.

Components

The tool is a collection of different Window panes and bars. Let’s see the main components of the explorer.

Title bar
Menu bar
Address bar
Search Box
Content Pane
Navigation Pane

Title bar

Title bar is the standard window bar with Minimize, Maximize and Close button. We can also move the whole window. Mouse click on the Title bar and drag and drop the window.

Menu bar

Menu bar has several options to perform actions on folders and files. We can create a folder, view and resize icons, sort items, show and disable panes etc.

By default the Preview Pane and Details Pane are disabled.

Address bar

The Address bar displays breadcrumb of drive and folders path for the item we are viewing in the Content pane.

Search Box

Search box allows us to search for items in the current view.

Content Pane

Content pane display the contents of the current folder. Windows 11 supports multiple options to view the contents. We can use the View menu to change the content view.