How to Improve Windows Explorer Using Folder Options
By Ciprian Adrian Rusen on Sun, 07/05/2009 - 18:40
Windows 7 introduces a brand new Windows Explorer with many changes versus its predecessors. Browsing and working with your files and folders has never been easier and more pleasant in the Windows world. Even so, there is always room for improvement by tweaking the configuration of the Folder Options menu. In this article I will show you where to find Folder Options and which are the key configuration options which can improve your experience with Windows Explorer.
Where To Find The Folder Options Menu
Finding the Folder Options menu can be done in several ways. One of them is to open the Control Panel and go to Appearance and Personalization -> Folder Options.
Another way is to open Windows Explorer and go to Organize -> Folder and search options.
A third alternative would be to search for 'folder options' in the Start Menu search box and click on the appropriate search result. Once launched, the Folder Options window looks like in the screenshot below. If you are familiar with previous versions of Windows, you will notice the Folder Options window has changed and now it offers a different set of options and tabs.
In the next chapter we will go through each one of the tabs and highlight important configuration items which can improve the way you work with Windows Explorer.
Windows Explorer Customization Tips
The General tab has a very limited set of configuration options. You can set Windows Explorer to open each folder in the same window or in a different one or you can change the way you open items (via a single-click or a double-click). The most interesting option is the last one, regarding the navigation pane. If you check the two check-boxes highlighted below, Windows Explorer will show all folders when you open it and will automatically expand to current folder. This can be very useful to some users as it helps them navigate faster through their folders.
The View tab has lots of configuration options about the way files and folders are shown in Windows Explorer. Some of the most important options are the following:
- Always show icons, never thumbnails - this option can be useful when you are working with a large number of files and folders and your computer is rather slow when loading all their thumbnails. By checking this option, Windows Explorer shows only icons and stops loading thumbnails, which leads to speed improvements when browsing through your files and folders.
- Hide empty drives in the Computer folder - when this option is checked, if you insert an USB memory stick or any other drive which is empty, it will not be shown in your Computer folder. This can sometimes lead to confusion if your drive was installed and detected properly. Unchecking this option is highly recommended.
- Hide extensions for known file types - unchecking this option allows you to see file name extensions as parts of file names. This is a good way to ensure that files are not viruses or other malicious software disguised as normal files such as documents or pictures. There are many viruses which apparently have a safe file extension. They are named something like
filename.doc.exe. If this option is checked, you will only seefilename.docand you might believe it is a safe file to open. Unchecking this option is highly recommended. - Use check boxes to select items - by checking this option, when you place your mouse on the top of a file or folder, you will see a small check box. This can be useful for easier selection of several items at once. It is the equivalent of holding down the CTRL key while clicking on multiple items to select them.
- When typing into list view - here you have two options, depending on the behavior you want. By default, when you type a letter, Windows Explorer will select the first file or folder which has a name starting with that letter. When found, the item will be automatically selected. If you want to change this behavior and you want to automatically search in the upper-right search box, select the first option which says 'Automatically type into the Search Box'.
The Search tab has configuration options about the way you can search for files or folders in Windows Explorer. The default configuration works very well. However, if you are not satisfied you can experiment with the available options and see if they improve your experience.
Conclusion
The tips shared here managed to improve my own experience with Windows Explorer and now I enjoy it even more. Actually, it is the first time I don't feel the need to use Total Commander, one of the best file managers you could find. If you have other good tips & tricks to share, don't hesitate to leave us a comment.
Related articles:
Fix Windows Explorer Annoyances with Classic Shell
Transform Windows Explorer with Filtering Options
Set a Default View Template in Windows Explorer for Any Folder
Configure the Default Viewing Templates in Windows Explorer to be as YOU Want Them!
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Comments
Wicked suggestions. I'll put
Wicked suggestions.
I'll put them into effect right away.
Thanks for the detail
Thanks for the detail instructions.
As you can see from the Windows Explorer screenshots, the background is white.
Is there a tweak/registry tweak to change it to grey as it would be less glaring without losing the glass effect?
I know I can go to the Windows Classic theme and change it from there but it loses the glass effect.
The behavior I'd like to
The behavior I'd like to tweak is how the tree in the left panel acts.
First, I'd prefer to to see the expand/collapse icons all the time rather than when I mouse over.
Second, whenever I expand a node, the view jumps back to the top of the tree. I frequently have to scroll down again in order to expand a sub-node of the node I just expanded.
Is there any way to disable
Is there any way to disable the auto-scrolling of the left pane? I hate it! Every time I click on a folder I have to re-scroll the window to get to what I want to see. Dunno why Microsoft did this, it's extremely annoying.
Did you find a solution for
Did you find a solution for this? I hate this behavior, too! Actually both issues mentioned, but especially the auto-scrolling sucks!
Cheers
I agree, this is extremely
I agree, this is extremely annoying. Of all the things that they could chosen as the double click action the scrolling is probably the most useless.
Any chance this will be fixed in SP1?
This is not changed in SP1.
This is not changed in SP1.
Just voicing my agreement
Just voicing my agreement over this annoying scrolling. I click, and the very folder I want to view leaps to the bottom of the screen, obscuring everything in it. Very stupid. I want it to stay where it is. It acts just like a glitch. Maybe it is.
I am finding the same
I am finding the same behaviour and it is very annoying indeed.
Does Microsoft put more emphasis on bells and whistles than on productivity?
If my employees wrote code like this I'd be looking for new employees....
To expand/collapse a folder
To expand/collapse a folder and all its subfolders, you need to double click on it.
A screenshot of the Search
A screenshot of the Search tab would be very helpful for those of us with non-English menus.
We don't make any reference
We don't make any reference to the search tab in this article. May I know why you would need such a screenshot?
In the 3rd graphic on your
In the 3rd graphic on your page, look under this text "If you are familiar with previous versions of Windows, you will notice the Folder Options window has changed and now it offers a different set of options and tabs."
That's where the Search tab is shown, which I'd like a screenshot of. In the Folder Options window, there are 3 tabs:
General / View / Search
Thanks
You can find this screenshot
You can find this screenshot here: http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/9RKHshPkEC7pHokkt1CIRg?feat=directlink
Thanks much!
Thanks much!
I forgot to tell you the
I forgot to tell you the reason I'd like a screenshot of the Search tab. Because I have a German computer and speak and read English. There's no way to change my menus to English, so when I can compare the English screens to the German screens, I can figure stuff out better.
Thanks
We just finished a series of
We just finished a series of articles on how to install new display languages. You can find it in our Clock, Language, and Region section.
Is there a way to have the
Is there a way to have the default view of folders be the List view? Everytime I open a folder that has folders in it, the folders are shown as partly open. I'd like the List view. thanks
There isn't a setting for
There isn't a setting for this offered by default in Windows 7. We will search for a hack or something and, if we find anything, we will publish a tutorial.
Faint Columns Unreadable I
Faint Columns Unreadable
I have one big gripe about Windows 7 Explorer. In the Details view, Explorer displays all columns other than "Name" in a faint gray font similar to the one that became popular on web sites a few years ago. Even a few seconds spent reading that kind of text makes my eyes strain painfully.
Any suggestions would be gratefully accepted.
Hello I've scratched my hair
Hello
I've scratched my hair off trying to fix this problem with faint gray fonts in windows explorer. I've gone through all the possibilities in Personalize/Advanced Settiings with no luck! I tried all the items (title bar, inactive ttitle bar, etc. etc.). Did you finf a solution? I would love to know what you did about it - other than live with it!
"Windows 7 introduces a brand
"Windows 7 introduces a brand new Windows Explorer which is superior in many ways to its predecessors."
Do you really believe that? Have you skipped the lot of complaints about the bugs in the explorer? Have a look here:
http://tinyurl.com/ykxacw9 Or http://tinyurl.com/yja66ll
And this is far from being all about it. You can find many more complaints.
Has anyone found a way to
Has anyone found a way to show the dotted lines on the left side panel folder tree like Explorer from XP? I would much rather hace the '+' and '-' and dotted lines than the stupid triangles that Windows 7 now uses.
There are far more shortcuts
There are far more shortcuts and efficient procedures taken out of Windows Explorer than new useful ones added. One of my biggest complaints is that we can no longer arrange the icons in Explorer windows to our liking. We are forced to swallow alphabetical order.
Many, Many familiar and useful features have been taken away. Tell us how to get back all the Windows Explorer features that we had in Windows XP.
That is not true. In the new
That is not true. In the new version you have much more filtering/arranging options than ever before. Problem is, people are not familiar with the new interface and don't know how to use them. Check out these articles for more info on the subject:
Transform Windows Explorer with Filtering Options
Explaining the Windows Explorer Views
The problem I have with it
The problem I have with it is, it takes too much input. I don't want to be setting filters each time I go to a folder, I just want to go straight to what I need.
I will be eagerly awaiting
I will be eagerly awaiting your instructions as to how to arrange these Windows Explorer icons. TechNet forums posters have given me approximately the same response this query as they have to "where is my familiar and beloved Classic Start Menu?". No explanation as to why, no apologies for its disappearance, Just "forget it, its gone and it ain't coming back". In reference to icon arrangement, there was a comment that, sometime in the future, there MAY become an option to have them automatically arrange in the order of frequency of use, but forget about any provision to arrange them to a sequence according to the user's preference.
It is this "screw you and your preferences, we are going to give you what we want you to have" attitude that just gets worse and worse with each new Microsoft product that burns me with both Windows 7 and Microsoft.
Thank you for allowing this rant.
Open Explorer and click on
Open Explorer and click on Organize. Point to layout and put a check next to Menu Bar. Click on View then point to sort by and then more... You will find a slew of filters there. Don't remember having this much flexibility in XP, but it's been a long long time since I mucked around with it.
I also am unhappy with
I also am unhappy with windows 7 explorer. How can I tell it to remember previous folder settings, like location and size, as EVERY other MS exporer did? Even though XP and VISTA both seem to have a limitation of how much they remember, then they seemed to loose their memory, until you manually reset some reg settings to fix it, Win 7 does not seem to remember ANY folder location and sizes. Any time I open any folder, it opens the way the previous explorer window was closed. I find this a big issue.
Not to mention I want my dreamscene content BACK!
Yes, that's pretty much my
Yes, that's pretty much my complaint. I want to use a folder or 2 for a desktop menu (shortcuts to pgms, other folders, etc.). Worked great in XP -- each would remember size and settings (no folder navigator for the menu folder, for example, but ordinary folders would have them). In Vista that sorta worked, but vista would fairly quickly forget the settings. In win 7, it doesn't even try.
Maybe there's a better way to do a menu that they haven't told us about ..
Nope, no other way. 3rd
Nope, no other way. 3rd party software is the only way That I've read about, and I use now. I just can't understand why they would take functionality away from windows, rather then augment functionality. It just escapes me! But I am really happy with WindowManager v1.4.1 It does everything XP and Vista used to do with remembering window locations. Geeze!!! Why should I have to pay extra for this? Windows 7 was expensive enough!!!
Enabling "Launch folder
Enabling "Launch folder windows in a separate process" may improve indexing performance.
There may be an 'hourglass' but the lag in sorting files by date/name/size is reduced.
OK, here is hopefully a
OK, here is hopefully a straight forward problem - in XP the folders in the folder tree used to expand with one click on the folder text i.e. you did not have to click on the + or - symbol to expand the folder. Is there a way to expand the folder in the folder tree in Windows 7 with one click on the folder text and not the triangle which I find infuriatingly small?
Thanks
Yes... in the Folder Options
Yes... in the Folder Options window, go to the General tab and check "Single click to open an item".
Thanks for the reply, Ciprian
Thanks for the reply, Ciprian but it does not quite solve the issue.
XP allowed one click on the folder text to expand the folder in the tree (and also opened the folder in the main window), 7 expands the folder in the tree all right but you have to click on the small-as-all-hell triangle to do so. I am interested to know if there is an option to expand the folder in the folder tree with one click of the folder text not the small trianlge. I may be barking up the wrong tree.
:)
This is not a good option
This is not a good option because then it becomes very difficult to select files & folders (it wants to launch them on the first click).
It seems that doing anything in Windows 7 requires 3 times the input as xp. I used to click once on the folder in the left pane and it would simultaneously expand the folder view in the left and open the folder contents in the right pane. I miss this so much! When you add up the extra clicks, scrolling and typing I have to do to accomplish each task in a day, it is slowing me down and fatiguing my hands & wrists something awful.
I am becoming torn as to whether I should just go back to xp. I have lost so much time already just trying to find out what 7 can do and how to do it, whereas before it was so intuitive and easy.
To expand/collapse a folder
To expand/collapse a folder and all its subfolders, you need to double click on it. A single click won't work.
And, when you double click on
And, when you double click on it, although it does expand the folder, for some reason it scrolls the folder pane, putting your folder at the very bottom, so you can't view the expanded folder contents. You have to go and scroll the list back up. So, again, 2 steps instead of one.
I agree completely. Still
I agree completely. Still looking for a solution. Please post if you fine one.
"XP allowed one click on the folder text to expand the folder in the tree (and also opened the folder in the main window), 7 expands the folder in the tree all right but you have to click on the small-as-all-hell triangle to do so. I am interested to know if there is an option to expand the folder in the folder tree with one click of the folder text not the small trianlge. I may be barking up the wrong tree."
I agree completely too. In
I agree completely too.
In previous versions of windows or at least windows 2000 and XP it was possible to click on the icon (contra the first poster, I think that clicking on the text name of the folder causes one to be offered the chance to rename that text).
In any event, the icon is a lot lager than that tiny triangle, which is not only tiny but also not highlighted (thin black outline, white colour) until one puts ones mouse over it. I am 45 years old, getting long sighted, and not happy with having to click on that tiny triange.
I thought that the options in this post would help but they only seem to make matters worse resulting in the auto-scrolling, as rightly berated above.
BTW I also hate all the virtual folders (libraries?) that one is given the option of using. I use many computers (at home, at work, on my laptop etc.) This means I must use a flash drive (previously a portable hard disk) to store and move my data. So my data is on a physical drive. I want physical drives to be displayed not all these virtual folders. Okay yes, I can set the virtual folders to access the physical drive, but then if I insert two flash drives (someone else's and then mine) the drive letter of my data can change leading to the virtual folders accessing the wrong physical storage device. Or I set up a network drive and likewise the virtual drives get confused. Additionally, the place where the data is actually physically stored can be difficult to find, and is dependent upon the version of windows. Please Microsoft, give us the option of going physical, like in the old days. This request is not that I am old-fashioned. We need physical data access now more than ever because everyone has more than one computer these days, and must therefore carry their data around physically. (Okay so one could also synchronise data each time one uses a new computer, but who has the time for that?).
1. When you say
1. When you say auto-scrolling, you mean that, when you click on a folder, on the left column of Windows Explorer, the folder tree gets expanded to show you also the current folder you just opened?
2. You can access any physical drive without having to define any libraries. You simply click on the Computer shortcut in the Start Menu and you will see there all drives.
3. I really think you misunderstood the use for the Libraries feature. Please read our tutorial so that you understand better how it works: Libraries - A Great Feature of Windows 7
4. I do not understand your complaint about the tiny triangle shown before the name of each folder. Can you share what you want to do, so that we can help?
First of all, when I clicked
First of all, when I clicked on "More information about formatting options" below, instead of opening in a new window, it opened in this window and destroyed the long post that I had written. So I will be briefer.
1. For a description of auto-scrolling see comments earlier on this page.
2. Computer is hidden under Favourites, downloads, desktop, recently opend folders, Libraries, documents, videos, music, Home group. Grr.
3. Good tutorial but I think that I understand libraries. They are virtual folders referencing real physical folders that may be in diverse places. The trouble is that in a changing physical storage environment, when I am sticking in two or three flash drives and a network disk, the libraries can and do loose track of where they should be poiting to. Sometimes even worse, they revert to the back-of-beyond default position buried in the hard drive. Back in the days of Windows 95 there was only "Computer" or perhaps just "C:" In those days I might have been happy to have virtual folders to organise data. But now computers are muck cheap and I have five of them, and keep my data on a large flash drive and a network drive, I know that virtual drives are clutter. I want to be able to banish them back to Bills brain.
4. For an explanatio of the tiny triangles please see one of the links below
http://www.flickr.com/photos/nihonbunka/5469438199/
http://nihonbunka.com/images/thosetriangles.jpg
I solved a lot of my gripes
I solved a lot of my gripes about the Win 7 explorer with the free Classic Shell program.
It also gave me back the classic start menu. The new Win7 start menu made no sense to me with all the extra clicks.
"Windows 7 introduces a brand
"Windows 7 introduces a brand new Windows Explorer which is superior in many ways to its predecessors. "
Laugh of the day. Since i am searching trying to fix the stupid behavior of W7 explorer.
So what about a way to not make opened tree going to the bottom of screen?
"Windows 7 introduces a brand
"Windows 7 introduces a brand new Windows Explorer which is superior in many ways to its predecessors."
Sorry, not true! Bloody lie, that's what it is.
I have worked with 7 for a year now and I still haven't found anything that it does better than my good old XP. In working with files and folders, that is.
The OS as such is better, faster, more stable, thanks for that.
But they should have kept the Explorer interface and functionality from XP
New to 7 but now wish I'd
New to 7 but now wish I'd stayed with XP. Just can't find a way for music folders to display all the content as in xp
I just downloaded the Class
I just downloaded the Class Shell per an above comment, and it addresses all of my issues, namely the autmoatic folder scroll and the double clicking to open folders.
Thanks Paul!
Need the classic address bar!
Need the classic address bar! It makes NO sense as to why this feature was tweaked. Also, with the "new and improved" windows explorer, I cannot simply point to either pane and scroll up and down. The one useful tool in Windows for me has now been dwindled down to an annoyance!
Simply pointing at a pane and
Simply pointing at a pane and being able to scroll it up and down is not how it works in XP either. I have XP Pro SP3 and if I have Windows Explorer open and both windows have up/down scroll bars, simply pointing at the pane does not let you scroll it with the mouse. You have click on something in the pane you want to scroll first to activate it.
A free program that I found,
A free program that I found, called DirectFolders, solved some of the problems for me.
Right now I am working with a free trial of another program called DirectoryOpus that gives you every option you can imagine and I feel like I died and went to explorer heaven! Where has this program been all my life!
It's too bad that you have to go looking for, or buying, extra programs to make Windows 7 truly usable. But the structure of the explorer is just too chaotic, confused and non-intuitive for me. I guess it works for some, but that never-ending list with all the shortcuts, libraries, icons- it's tiring my eyes out something awful. I can't tell, instantly, at a glance, what I am looking for. It's time consuming and *vision intensive*. And when you multiply this by every single time you go to look for a file or folder, including in a context menu from inside a program, it's been very frustrating for me.
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