Microsoft continues to add new features to Windows 11 and try them out with Windows Insiders every week, and while Microsoft officially reveals features that are ready to be tested, Insider builds of Windows 11 also contain hidden features that are still under development, but they are soon discovered by developers and explorers.
This time, in the Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22572 released by Microsoft yesterday, Rafael Rivera discovered a much-anticipated feature since the early days of Windows 10, which is the Tabs feature in File Explorer on Windows.
Note: the pictures used in this article are taken from the Rafael Rivera (@WithinRafael) Twitter account. {alertInfo}
The tabs feature in File Explorer is one of the most important features that Windows lacks, and it is a feature that helps users to quickly and orderly manage their files and folders without having to open multiple windows of File Explorer and get confused between them.
This feature has been around for a long time in file managers of all major operating systems such as macOS and most Linux desktop environments, as well as in some third-party file managers such as the Files app.
You can activate the tabs feature in Windows 11 build 22572 using the open-source Vive Tool by downloading and decompressing it, opening the Windows terminal as an administrator in the folder in which you unzip the tool, and executing the following command:
vivetool addconfig 34370472 2 {codeBox}
or:
.\vivetool.exe addconfig 34370472 2 {codeBox}.
Restart your computer to complete the activation of this feature.
To deactivate this feature, perform the previous operations and replace the above command with the following:
vivetool delconfig 34370472 2 {codeBox}
or:
.\vivetool.exe delconfig 34370472 2 {codeBox}
After executing this command, also restart your computer to complete this process.
After activating this feature, a new option will appear in the File Explorer right-click contextual menu that enables you to open files in a new tab, in addition to an "+" button at the top of the Explorer for the same purpose.
The tabs feature is still under development, so some things may not work as expected, and after further improvements are made to it, it is expected that Microsoft will reveal this feature officially in the coming weeks for Windows Insiders, to be sent later this year to the stable Windows 11 users, either as part of the major Windows 11 22H2 feature update or as a non-security monthly update like the February 2022 update.
