Windows 11 File Explorer is officially getting tabs

Microsoft recently hosted its Future of Hybrid Work event, where the company got to brag about numerous features in-bound to the new Windows 11 ecosystem. One of the most highly-anticipated and long-awaited additions to the Windows 11 landscape is the inclusion of tabs within the File Explorer interface.

You’ve read that right. Windows 11’s File Explorer is getting tabs. Microsoft hasn’t given an exact timeline or even a vague possible release date for the new feature, but they have at the very least confirmed that it is something they are working on. A while back, we reported on something akin to a tabbed interface heading to Windows 11’s File Explorer, but that early version of File Explorer we saw in the preview was nothing compared to the new Sets system Microsoft is working on. 

The Sets system was first teased in 2017 when Microsoft hypothesized using a tabbed interface to unify system functionalities like Edge, Calendar, and File Explorer, among others, into one seamless, integrated interface. This, of course, didn’t come to fruition, but the Sets concept was a prelude to how integrated and functional File Explorer could become. 

The inclusion of tabs within the File Explorer interface will essentially see File Explorer functioning similarly to an internet explorer. Not that Internet Explorer, though, but rather something more akin to the highly functional, integrated, and optimized Microsoft Edge. The concept, at this stage, is for File Explorer to give you the ability to pin tabs to the main interface and have other directories or files open in other tabs. This would all give you easier and more convenient ‘quick access’ to your files and directories. 

Microsoft has even enlisted technology that it has called ContextIQ to better organize files according to search queries. This should make File Explorer feel as intuitive, streamlined, and productivity-focused as the rest of the Windows 11 ecosystem. 

We speak under correction, but it would be a reasonable expectation that the all-new tabbed File Explorer experience could be shipped with the highly-anticipated fall launch of Windows 11 22h2. Speaking of the next update, it doesn’t seem like Windows 11 adoption rates are where the company would like them. Apparently, if you’re using the latest operating system, you’re one of a very small percentage. Why not read more about the possible reasons for the seemingly stagnant adoption of Windows 11?