Windows 11: Customise Explorer views and options

One of my clients sent me an email despairing of the changes in how Windows 11 displays folders etc. in Windows Explorer/File Explorer (Microsoft seems to change what they call it so I’ll just use ‘Explorer’ here). Basically, he lost the functionality he used to have and wanted to get it back. I helped him with a few things, like pinning most-used folders to the Quick Access area of the left navigation pane, but because I don’t use Windows 11 yet, I couldn’t help him with others.

He got back to me with a link to an EXCELLENT YouTube video that explains how to customise Explorer so that it better matches what you’re used to in Windows 10: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8DLZL1_Ymcg

(NOTE: This video is useful for Windows 10 users too, as most of the things the narrator talks about can also be done in Windows 10 [Options settings are under the View tab  > Options icon drop-down list > Change File and Folder Options.)

Some other resources I sent my client include:

• Pinning items (including, files, folders, drives) to the task bar:
  • https://www.makeuseof.com/windows-11-taskbar-pin-almost-anything/
  • https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/pin-apps-and-folders-to-the-desktop-or-taskbar-f3c749fb-e298-4cf1-adda-7fd635df6bb0
• Creating a new folder in Explorer (various methods):
  • Right-click in a blank area on the right (or on a folder name on the left), select New > Folder
  • On the Home tab, click New Folder (if you can’t see the ribbons, just the tabs, click the tiny arrow immediately to the left of the help (the blue question mark) icon on the far right of the tab area to expand to the full ribbons and all their commands.
  • https://www.makeuseof.com/ways-to-create-a-new-folder-in-windows/
• Creating shortcuts to folders (OLD blogposts of mine, but they still work):
  • https://cybertext.wordpress.com/2008/04/22/shortcuts-to-multiple-drives-and-folders/
  • https://cybertext.wordpress.com/2008/03/25/opening-windows-explorer-to-a-folder-of-your-choice/
• Quick Access (Windows 10, but should work the same in Windows 11):
  • Open Explorer at Quick Access instead of This PC: https://www.isunshare.com/windows-10/open-file-explorer-to-quick-access-or-this-pc-in-windows-10.html
  • https://www.pcmag.com/how-to/how-to-retrieve-folders-files-with-windows-10-quick-access

• https://www.makeuseof.com/windows-11-taskbar-pin-almost-anything/
• https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/pin-apps-and-folders-to-the-desktop-or-taskbar-f3c749fb-e298-4cf1-adda-7fd635df6bb0

• Right-click in a blank area on the right (or on a folder name on the left), select New > Folder
• On the Home tab, click New Folder (if you can’t see the ribbons, just the tabs, click the tiny arrow immediately to the left of the help (the blue question mark) icon on the far right of the tab area to expand to the full ribbons and all their commands.
• https://www.makeuseof.com/ways-to-create-a-new-folder-in-windows/

• https://cybertext.wordpress.com/2008/04/22/shortcuts-to-multiple-drives-and-folders/
• https://cybertext.wordpress.com/2008/03/25/opening-windows-explorer-to-a-folder-of-your-choice/

• Open Explorer at Quick Access instead of This PC: https://www.isunshare.com/windows-10/open-file-explorer-to-quick-access-or-this-pc-in-windows-10.html
• https://www.pcmag.com/how-to/how-to-retrieve-folders-files-with-windows-10-quick-access

[Links last checked April 2023]