Windows 11 file explorer

[danielallenr]

I brought a new computer to help better organize my photo files, which now runs to about 30,000 nature photos, and to my horror when I tried Windows 11 compared to 10 most of the functionality is gone. What used to be a 2 click transfer of many files now takes up to 12 steps for a single file and highlighting multiple files at once to transfer is gone. I temporarily got the old 10 ribbon back but with the next upgrade of Windows it is back to the new ribbon and loss of the functions. I have done some basic looking and know that file managers exist to move files and better software for file storage is out there but not much on how well it will work with Windows 11 and how it will deal with transferring files back and forth. any Ideas or advice out there would be appreciated.

 

[Ken Seals]

Take a look at Directory Opus. It's a windows file manager that's far better than Win explorer in every way. It's compatible with Win 11.

 

[Sean Nelson]

What used to be a 2 click transfer of many files now takes up to 12 steps for a single file and highlighting multiple files at once to transfer is gone.

Wait, what?

You can't drag and drop any more?

You can't click one file, then shift-click another to select those files and everything between them?

 

[BobKnDP]

I'm mystified by the post.

Copying or moving groups of files is the same under 11 as for 10. (I refer to Home and Pro; I've never used the S version). I don't recall fundamental changes since Windows 95.

I'm not fond of the extra click needed to open the full context menu, but not enough that I've tried to hack 11.

Single posts by new members are sometimes trolling, but I can't see a point here.

 

[Billiam29]

What used to be a 2 click transfer of many files now takes up to 12 steps for a single file and highlighting multiple files at once to transfer is gone.

Wait, what?

You can't drag and drop any more?

You can't click one file, then shift-click another to select those files and everything between them?

I honestly cannot envision what the OP is referring to. I have not encountered anything different at all making multiple file selections in the Windows 11 version of File Explorer. Perhaps they were using search or some form of task-specific sorting to arrive at their multiple file selection.

 

[Austinian]

I'm mystified by the post.

Me too.

Copying or moving groups of files is the same under 11 as for 10. (I refer to Home and Pro; I've never used the S version). I don't recall fundamental changes since Windows 95.

I also like the tabs in 11's File Explorer.

I'm not fond of the extra click needed to open the full context menu, but not enough that I've tried to hack 11.

Just set a restore point before you make the registry edit; as I recall, it was an easy tweak.

 

[David Lal]

I'm not fond of the extra click needed to open the full context menu, but not enough that I've tried to hack 11.

Bob, are you comfortable hacking the registry? If so check out:

Loading…

www.majorgeeks.com

Of course, be sure you know how to back it up first and roll back in case something goes wrong.

 

[BobKnDP]

I'm not fond of the extra click needed to open the full context menu, but not enough that I've tried to hack 11.

Bob, are you comfortable hacking the registry? If so check out:

https://www.majorgeeks.com/files/details/majorgeeks_registry_tweaks.html

Of course, be sure you know how to back it up first and roll back in case something goes wrong.

Thanks.

I've done tweaks to the Registry, although it's not like I really knew what I was doing.

I regularly visit majorgeeks.com, but I've never downloaded that package.

 

[LynniePad]

I'm mystified by the post.

Also seemed strange to me. I have both Win10 and Win11 computers in the office, and the users (myself included) move between them without comment, including file management operations.

Copying or moving groups of files is the same under 11 as for 10. (I refer to Home and Pro; I've never used the S version). I don't recall fundamental changes since Windows 95.

I recall that some earlier versions of Windows didn’t provide immediate access to the file manager (it was an accessory or tool), and some users never discovered how to efficiently shuffle their files around. Some who did find file manager didn’t take the next step of creating folders.

An interesting variant of inefficient file management used to be the practice of adding prefixes to file names in an attempt to organise things. I used to point out that calling a file aaThesis was much the same as letting the operating system manage folders by using hidden codes.

 

[edispics]

To bring back the Win 10 context menu you can do a simple registry hack.

If you are uncomfortable doing that, just use the WinAero Tweaker

https://winaerotweaker.com/?utm_sou..._campaign=winaerotweaker&utm_content=aboutbox

And under the Windows 11 header, click on full context menu

Free but donations accepted and I have not run into any issues using it to date.

 

[Models By Day]

Loading…

github.com

Explorer Patcher allows you to change settings in windows 11 to restore them to prior version of windows.

Had to start using it after a recent windows 11 update messed up the reg hack.

 

[RDKirk]

I brought a new computer to help better organize my photo files, which now runs to about 30,000 nature photos, and to my horror when I tried Windows 11 compared to 10 most of the functionality is gone. What used to be a 2 click transfer of many files now takes up to 12 steps for a single file and highlighting multiple files at once to transfer is gone. I temporarily got the old 10 ribbon back but with the next upgrade of Windows it is back to the new ribbon and loss of the functions. I have done some basic looking and know that file managers exist to move files and better software for file storage is out there but not much on how well it will work with Windows 11 and how it will deal with transferring files back and forth. any Ideas or advice out there would be appreciated.

There's no difference in that operation between Windows 10 and Windows 11.

 

[ppage]

What used to be a 2 click transfer of many files now takes up to 12 steps for a single file and highlighting multiple files at once to transfer is gone.

Wait, what?

You can't drag and drop any more?

You can't click one file, then shift-click another to select those files and everything between them?

I honestly cannot envision what the OP is referring to. I have not encountered anything different at all making multiple file selections in the Windows 11 version of File Explorer. Perhaps they were using search or some form of task-specific sorting to arrive at their multiple file selection.

The latest upate of Windows 11has FINALLY added tabs to File Manager, making copying or moving between different folders or drives much easier.

 

[BobKnDP]

What used to be a 2 click transfer of many files now takes up to 12 steps for a single file and highlighting multiple files at once to transfer is gone.

Wait, what?

You can't drag and drop any more?

You can't click one file, then shift-click another to select those files and everything between them?

I honestly cannot envision what the OP is referring to. I have not encountered anything different at all making multiple file selections in the Windows 11 version of File Explorer. Perhaps they were using search or some form of task-specific sorting to arrive at their multiple file selection.

The latest upate of Windows 11has FINALLY added tabs to File Manager, making copying or moving between different folders or drives much easier.

I've gotten so used to not having tabs, it will take me a while to train myself to use them.

Tabs in File Explorer may save me tens of seconds per day. ;-)

 

[RDKirk]

What used to be a 2 click transfer of many files now takes up to 12 steps for a single file and highlighting multiple files at once to transfer is gone.

Wait, what?

You can't drag and drop any more?

You can't click one file, then shift-click another to select those files and everything between them?

I honestly cannot envision what the OP is referring to. I have not encountered anything different at all making multiple file selections in the Windows 11 version of File Explorer. Perhaps they were using search or some form of task-specific sorting to arrive at their multiple file selection.

The latest upate of Windows 11has FINALLY added tabs to File Manager, making copying or moving between different folders or drives much easier.

I've gotten so used to not having tabs, it will take me a while to train myself to use them.

Tabs in File Explorer may save me tens of seconds per day. ;-)

To me it's no so much the time as the organization when dealing with several windows.

 

[Billiam29]

The latest upate of Windows 11has FINALLY added tabs to File Manager, making copying or moving between different folders or drives much easier.

I've gotten so used to not having tabs, it will take me a while to train myself to use them.

Tabs in File Explorer may save me tens of seconds per day. ;-)

To me it's no so much the time as the organization when dealing with several windows.

I think I’ll be much more likely make use of FE tabs when they have the basic browser-like abilities of tearing them off into their own new windows and re-docking them to existing windows.

 

[LynniePad]

ppage wrote:.

The latest upate of Windows 11has FINALLY added tabs to File Manager, making copying or moving between different folders or drives much easier.

I've gotten so used to not having tabs, it will take me a while to train myself to use them.

I’ve also managed rather well without tabs, although I have found that mapping “parent” network folders rather than user folders is more convenient for subsequent operations.

By all means map the user folders as well…

Shared(\\Desktop-5xxxxxx) (X

Current Files(\\Desktop-5xxxxxx\Shared) (Z

Tabs in File Explorer may save me tens of seconds per day. ;-)

I remember a rather extensive DPR thread on the supposed need for a tabbed word processor. OK for MS-Excel, but quite silly in the case of MS-Word, where tabbed “supporting information” could just as easily be consigned to a separate (possibly minimised) document, again at a loss of “seconds per day”, but much safer than possibly disseminating private information.

 

[RDKirk]

The latest upate of Windows 11has FINALLY added tabs to File Manager, making copying or moving between different folders or drives much easier.

I've gotten so used to not having tabs, it will take me a while to train myself to use them.

Tabs in File Explorer may save me tens of seconds per day. ;-)

To me it's no so much the time as the organization when dealing with several windows.

I think I’ll be much more likely make use of FE tabs when they have the basic browser-like abilities of tearing them off into their own new windows and re-docking them to existing windows.

I agree. The omission of those capabilities is odd.

 

[Sean Nelson]

The latest upate of Windows 11has FINALLY added tabs to File Manager, making copying or moving between different folders or drives much easier.

Oh, wow. If they've done a decent implementation of this then it might just be worth the hassle to upgrade to Windows 11. I frequently have multiple File Explorer windows open at once and have to try to arrange them with a bit of overlap so I can click to the one I want. Having one window with tabs that show the bottommost directory name that the tab is focused to would be great, especially if you can arrange the tabs in the order you want.

Hmm... after checking in Google it sounds like there are some basic gaps in functionality. For example, opening new links always opens new windows, not new tabs. And you can't drag an open window into a tab on another window. This makes it a lot harder to use tabs than it should be.