GET STARTED WITH FILE EXPLORER
REVEAL THE RIBBON 01
You may not be able to see the Ribbon when you first open a File Explorer window. If that’s the case, either click on the down arrow on the right side of the window, or press ‘Ctrl-F1’. You should now see four tabs: File, Home, Share and View. Select View to reveal the different ways you can change how a File Explorer windows contents are displayed.
CHANGE THE VIEW 02
Under ‘View > Layout’, you’ll see a range of options, including Large Icons, Small Icons and so on. Mouse over each one to see how it changes the way contents are displayed. To make each change more permanent, click the option you want to use. Now if you close the window, then reopen it again, you will see the change you have made has stuck. You can change the view at any time.
TAKE A SNEAK PEEK 03
Head to ‘View > Panes’ and click ‘Preview Pane’. You’ll now see a preview of the currently selected file or files (useful for pictures and video) without having to open it in a compatible application. You can resize the Preview Pane for a closer look by clicking and dragging the grey border to the left (the cursor will change to a double-arrow). Double-click to open the file in the relevant app.
SEE MORE DETAILS 04
If you want to know more about a file, go to ‘View > Panes’ and select the Details Pane. This reveals further info, including EXIF data in any photos. As you mouse over some of the details, you’ll see a grey outline appear around them. This means you can edit them. Double-click to change the current selection. You can add titles, tags, star ratings and other info right in File Explorer.
SORT YOUR STUFF 05
By default, File Explorer displays items in alphabetical order. To change this go to ‘View > Current View’ and click ‘Sort By’ to reveal a drop-down menu. You can view items by name, date, tags or any one of seven other options, as well as in ascending or descending order — handy if you’re trying to find the latest version or are trying to save space by weeding out the largest ones.
FORM A GROUP 06
You can also sort files and folders into groups. Again, this is handy for identifying certain kinds of file, such as any images you have tagged. To do that, go to ‘View > Current View > Group by’, then choose from your options. You’ll see the window layout change to reflect your selection. If you select by File Type, for example, you’ll see files are listed under File Type headings.
CUSTOMISE YOUR COLUMNS 07
Another way to get at-a-glance info is to customise the columns File Explorer shows. In ‘Layout > Details and Current View > Group views’, you’ll see default columns, but you can change these. Go to ‘Current View > Add Columns’ and select Choose Columns. A Choose Details window appears. You can now choose the columns you want to see. Click OK once done.
SHARE FILES AND FOLDERS 08
File Explorer makes sharing easy. Go to ‘Ribbon > Share > Send > Share’ to upload files to apps and services such as Mail and Facebook. Select ‘Send > Zip’ to compress them, or use the options in the next column to print, fax or burn them to disc. To share items on a network, select ‘Share With > Specific people...’, then choose your options from the window that opens.
OTHER FILE EXPLORER OPTIONS 09
While you can select multiple files and folders by clicking and dragging or Ctrl-clicking, there is another option. Go to ‘View > Show/hide’ and select and check the ‘Item check boxes’ option. Every item will now have its own check box, making it easy to select them quickly. This section also lets you to show or hide file extensions and show or hide individual files and folders.
CUSTOMISE QUICK ACCESS 10
If you regularly access certain items, Quick Access can help. It enables you to pin them to its menu, which sits in File Explorer’s sidebar. Select the Quick Access menu itself and you will see your favourites on top with recent files below. To add an item to Quick Access, select it, then go to ‘Home > Pin to Quick Access’. To remove it, right-click it and select ‘Unpin from Quick Access’.