Microsoft could soon bring tabs to the File Explorer app on Windows 11. The feature is currently hidden in the Windows 11 Insider build 22572 that Microsoft released yesterday, but Rafael Rivera managed to enable it and it looks pretty promising.

Microsoft bringing Tabs to File Explorer would probably please a lot of Windows 11 power users. This should make it easier to switch between different folders and move files between them without having to deal with multiple File Explorer windows.

File Explorer tabs are back! (Windows 11 22572, feature 34370472) pic.twitter.com/U3t10Affdq

— Rafael Rivera (@WithinRafael) March 9, 2022

You may remember that Microsoft toyed with a tabbed experience for Windows apps named “Windows Sets” many years ago. This experience ultimately didn’t make it to Windows 10, and it’s not guaranteed yet that Tabs in File Explorer will also ship in a future version of Windows 11. The Windows Insider team has yet to discuss the new feature, but it could well make its official debut in a future Windows 11 build.

Mac users have been able to use tabs in the macOS Finder for many years, so it’s really time for Windows 11 to catch up. In the meantime, third-party developers have already started to fill that gap. On the Microsoft Store, there’s a popular files manager app named “Files” that already supports multiple tabs, panes, and other advanced features.

If you have yet to install it, yesterday’s Windows 11 build 22572 includes no new features but it comes with two new inbox apps, Microsoft Family Security and Clipchamp. The latter is a video editor that Microsoft acquired last year, and it’s shaping up to become a solid replacement for Microsoft’s old Windows Movie Maker app.

Tagged with Windows 11, Windows Insider