Microsoft tests refreshed, tabbed Windows 11 File Explorer design

Enlarge / Oft-tested and never released, tabs could be coming to Windows Explorer soon. (credit: Microsoft)

Browser tabs have been a thing for decades, but the file explorers you use to navigate your computer's storage have been slow to follow suit. The macOS Finder picked up tabs in 2013, and now Windows 11's File Explorer is getting them too. Microsoft released a new build of Windows 11 (version 22621.160) to testers in the Windows Insider Beta channel, adding tabs to the File Explorer and relabeling and reorganizing the left-hand navigation bar.

Microsoft says that the new File Explorer may not be available to all testers yet, and it's waiting to receive feedback on the changes before making it accessible to everyone.

Testers initially unearthed this File Explorer redesign a few months ago, but Microsoft has been testing a tabbed version of the File Explorer on and off for years. It was briefly included in a Windows 10 build in 2018, but the feature was removed before that version of Windows 10 was released later that year.

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