Navigating File Explorer, Windows, and the new Snap View
Navigating File Explorer in Windows 11 feels like Microsoft ignored what users wanted in favor of what its engineers could add instead. Remember Windows Sets, the 2017 tabbed interface that incorporated File Explorer, Mail, Edge, and more? Users may not ultimately have wanted the Sets interface as a whole, but they’ve been asking for a tabbed File Explorer for years. Microsoft hasn’t given that to us, leaving File Explorer’s windowed organization largely unchanged.
Microsoft’s File Explorer and other Shell apps show off the rounded corners and Fluent Design principles that first emerged within Windows 10, evolving them to include “materials” like Mica. Microsoft also reworked some of the system icons, so the Pictures and Downloads folder, for example, feel fresh and modern.
For me, that’s where Windows 11’s design improvements stop. Icons are one thing. But Windows 11 also adds a row of shortcut icons to File Explorer that, even after using the OS for weeks, simply don’t effectively communicate their purpose. I can certainly figure out that the “scissors” icon means “cut” and that the “garbage can” icon means “delete,” but I still have trouble recognizing which icon represents “rename,” “paste,” and “share,” without specifically thinking about which icon represents which function.
Right-clicking on a file places these UI shortcuts at the top of the menu, where at least I can hover over them. But the option to, say, rename a file only appears there in that row of icons. Or does it? No, you can also scroll down to “Show more options” and get a second, expanded, Windows 10-like column of menu options.Continue reading→