The Windows file explorer is one of the Microsoft operating system tools. From the file explorer, it is possible to navigate the entire directory and file structure of your hard drive easily and quickly. Although there are some tricks or adjustments that can allow us to get the maximum output from Windows File Explorer.
Windows File Explorer Tricks
Here we will present all the 10 tricks to get the most out of your Windows File explorer. These tricks will help us in our everyday life when we use our Computer or Laptop.
Rename multiple files at once
One of the most performed tasks from the Windows file explorer is to rename the files. When there is only one file to rename, then it is not a big deal to rename it. But, if you have several files to rename, the process will be quite tedious. To do this, the file explorer itself offers the ability to rename the multiple files at once quickly.
To do this, all we have to is to select all the files that we want to rename and then give a right click on the first one and select the Rename option. There type the name that you want to give and when you press Enter, you can see how automatically the name of all the selected files are changing with the text you have given and the numerical sequence is added to them as the two files cannot have the same name. Awesome isn’t it? This helps us to rename the number of episodes in any TV Series, or etc.
Delete file history
By default, the file browser keeps a record of the most recent open files and newly made searches. A feature that on certain occasions can be a great help but in other times we may not want them to be shown.
To delete the history of files and searches, what we have to do is: Go to the menu File> Change folder and search options and in the window that opens then go to the General tab and click on the Delete button that appears Next to the option to clear the history of the file explorer within the Privacy section. Right here we can also uncheck the Show recently used files and Show frequently used folders if we want.
Disable notifications
It is common to see how Microsoft displays certain announcements or notifications on their operating system to invite users to use certain tools or update the system. In Windows 10 we were able to see how Microsoft started to show this type of ads in the file explorer, but if you want to disable them just go to File> Change folder and search options and under the View tab, uncheck the Show notifications option Of the synchronization provider.
Open file explorer on This Computer directly
In Windows 10, when you open a new instance of the file browser, it is always opened in Quick Access. However, if you want to go directly to This Computer follow this instruction. Go to File> Change Folder and Search Options and from the Open File Explorer in: list, select This Computer.
Show Recycle Bin and Control Panel in Sidebar
The File Browser navigation panel does not display access to the Recycle Bin or the Control Panel by default, however, we can display them simply by right-clicking on a free space in the navigation panel and selecting the option Show all folders.
File Browser Keyboard Shortcuts
As in almost any application, Windows File Explorer also has some keyboard shortcuts that allow you to execute certain actions quickly. These include:
Win + E, open a new file explorer window.
Ctrl + N, open a new file explorer window in the folder we are in.
Ctrl + W, closes the current file browser.
Ctrl + D, select the address bar.
Ctrl + F, places us in the browser’s search box.
Ctrl + Shift + N, create a new folder.
Alt + Up, we raise a level in the directory tree.
Alt + right / left, go forward or backwards.
How to remove cloud services from the navigation pane
When we have any cloud storage services installed on the computer, this appears by default in the navigation pane of the Windows file explorer. To remove them from there, we have to access the Windows registry and click on the menu option Edit> Search. Type the chain IsPinned and look for the result.
In each result, we find the value System.IsPinnedToNameSpaceTree, double-click on it and change its value to 0 and click OK.
Add functions to file explorer with Extrabits
Although all these options or tricks for the file explorer can be done from the browser itself, there is an application developed by third parties that allow us to add new functions to the Windows tool. The program in question is called Extrabits and adds new functions to perform on the folders and files of the browser from the context menu. Download and install the program if you want to add the new functions.
Add new file types to the New option in the context menu
When we right click on a free area of the Windows file explorer, a contextual menu with several options is displayed. Among them, we find the option New, to create a file, and offers us the option to create certain types of file.
If we want to add a new one to the list, we open a notepad and paste the following text:
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT .XXX ShellNew]
“NullFile” = “”
Finally, we substitute .XXX for the extension type of file that we want to add to the contextual menu and we save it like filetype.reg. Then, we execute the file by double clicking on it and then we will have the new option available.
Rotate images from the Windows file explorer itself
On many occasions, it is possible that we are seeing photos from the Windows file explorer and if you want to rotate them you can do that with this trick. Well, from the browser itself it is possible to do it without resorting to any program or image editing application. To do this, simply select the image that we want to rotate and from the option of the Image Tools menu, select the direction in which we want to rotate the image.
These are the 10 amazing Windows File explorer tricks to get most out of your computer or laptop systems. I hope this article will help you to learn more tricks. If you have any queries regarding any of the trick let us know in the below comment section. We will get back to you to solve all your queries as soon as possible.
Would you like to add any other tricks to this article? Then, write them to us through our contact us page or through your comments below. We will review it and add to this article in the next update.
Which Windows File Explorer trick do you use most?
