Let the excitement commence! Microsoft has just released a ‘non-feature update’ feature update for Windows 11, and it looks like the OS giant is far from done. Windows 11 preview users have just spotted tabs as a hidden feature in the latest preview build. This new hidden feature is the proud discovery of Windows Insider Rafael Rivera, who immediately took to Twitter with his findings. According to Rivera and subsequent screenshots, the Windows 11 File Explorer now has a neat row of tabs above the navigation and quick access bars.
The presence of tabs in the upcoming File Explorer experience, as Microsoft has become accustomed to terming its brand, means that users will now be able to open up multiple directories in one interface. Multiple directories aren’t a new thing; tabs are already a feature of Windows 10. But as with many features in Windows 11, it seems there is much regression. Windows 11 is like using an initial build of Windows 10 with a fresh interface.
Currently, if you want access to multiple directories in Windows 11, you need to open multiple windows. This means messing with split-screen snapping, overlapping, or playing around with window sizes like we used to have to do in Windows 10 back in the day. Luckily, Windows 11 is growing into a fine young operating system, and tabs just prove this.
In the new interface, the Windows 11 File Explorer App ships with tabs that work exactly as they do on Microsoft Edge or any other browser. The main tab is File Explorer itself, and to open any additional tabs; you’d just hit the plus icon next to the last tab. To get rid of tabs, you’d simply click the x icon on the right-hand side of individual tabs.
The most exciting part of having the tabs functionality in Windows 11’s File Explorer is how useful tabs are in Microsoft Edge and Google Chrome. Both let you group tabs for even further organizational customization, and we could see similar features headed to File Explorer in a future update.
While the new feature is still only in the Dev Channel, we have every hope that Microsoft keeps tabs and adds them to more accessible versions of the OS in the future. Insiders have already received two other builds over the last few months that add improvements and new features for touch users, among other performance improvements and bug fixes.
Stick around If you’d like to read about the new Windows 11 taskbar features that came to full fruition in the last Windows 11 update.
