3 Easy Ways To Improve The Windows 7 Explorer

By -
Windows Explorer is the file manager application that handles the Windows desktop and taskbar and lets you access your files. Without its nice graphical interface, controlling your computer would be a lot more complicated. It’s probably the Windows application that you interact with the most, and hence it’s worth looking into improvements that make it even more useful and efficient.

1. Customize Folder Options

Using the folder options you can tweak the appearance and behavior of your folders. You can reveal hidden files, edit the display of icons and thumbnails, or control how searches are performed.
You can access the Windows 7 folder options in several different ways. When you presently have a folder open, click Organize in the top left and then select Folder and search options from the menu. Another way is to search for the term ‘folder options‘ in the Start menu search and open the respective result under the Control Panel header. Finally, you can access the folder options via the Control Panel under Appearance and Personalization (screenshot below).
improve windows 7 explorer
Clicking on Folder Options will launch the window displayed below. Within the General tab you can adjust basic things, such as the behavior of the Explorer navigation pane. I highly recommend to check both boxes. Before you do that, open a folder and see how it behaves after you hit Apply.
better windows 7 explorer
Switching over to the View tab, you can get into some more juicy details, such as enabling the folder menu pane, enabling the restoring of previous folder windows at logon, or enabling the use of check boxes to select items. An example of a customized folder is shown in the screenshot below.
better windows 7 explorer

2. Optimize File View & Preview

How do you prefer to view your files inside a folder? Do you like to view a list with details or just icons? You can set a different view for each folder, which is very convenient as folders contain different things that each demand a custom setting. To cycle through the different view options, simply click the respective button (red).
better windows 7 explorer
In the screenshot above you can see a preview of the selected image on the right. You can enable or disable the preview pane, as well as other panes, under > Organize > Layout.
change explorer folder panes

3. Pin Favorite Folders To Explorer Jump List

The jump list is the list of options that come up when you right-click any item in the taskbar. To access specific folders faster, you can pin them to the Explorer jump list. This can help with un-cluttering the desktop. Simply right-click a folder icon inside Explorer and drag the folder to the taskbar (black). It will automatically be added to the Explorer jump list.
improve windows 7 explorer
By the way, if your Windows Explorer is not currently pinned to the taskbar (icon with red frame in screenshot above), simply open any folder, e.g. your computer, right-click its icon in the taskbar and select Pin this program to taskbar from the menu.
Were these improvements not quite good enough? You might want to look into alternative file managers to replace Windows Explorer, for example these:
If replacing Windows Explorer is a bit too radical for you, maybe you’re happy with simply editing it a little. The following tools can be of great help:
You may also want to stay tuned for a follow-up article on advanced tricks and tips for working with Windows Explorer.
What tips and tricks do you know that improve Windows Explorer?

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Smart Storage Tips for a Clutter Free Bedroom

By -
Image
The  bedroom  is the area in the house that is more personal and private. One spends most of his time inside the bedroom especially when much rest is needed. Hence, since it is a personal room, one’s belongings and important stuff including clothes, jewelries and others are also inside it. There would be a need to organize all the things inside the bedroom in order to make it clutter free. It is also necessary to do that so that you will not find it hard to look for your own stuff. There are many ways to create storage spaces in your bedroom. Choosing one depends on the type of room you have and it also depends on your storage needs. Today, we will give you some tips on how to create  smart storage space  in your bedroom to have a  clutter free room . Look into the tips below and choose which one best suits you. 1. Open storage. Image:  Vhychenq Try for open storage especially if your bedroom is only small. Place some items on it l...
Read more

29 Semi-Productive Things I Do Online When I’m Trying to Avoid Real Work

By -
You don’t always have to work hard to be productive.  Productivity can simply be the side effect of doing the right things. So here’s a list of 29 semi-productive things I do online when my mind is set on avoiding ‘real work.’ Check delicious popular tags like ‘ useful ,’ ‘ tutorials ,’ ‘ tips ,’ ‘howto ,’ ‘ advice ,’ ‘ entrepreneurship ,’ etc. for interesting, educational articles to read. Watch one of the thousands of educational videos streaming at TED.com , Academic Earth and Teacher Tube . Read an online book list and find a new book to grab next time I’m at the library.  Here’s another list .  And another .  And another . Read a classic book online for free at Project Gutenberg , Planet eBook , or the E-books Directory . Research a new Do It Yourself project at DIY Network , Instructables , eHow , or WikiHow . Add to, delete from, or just generally sort my ongoing to-do list at Remember The Milk . Create a cool graphical mind map of some of my recent ...
Read more

Top 5 Most Alcoholic Drinks (Cocktails)

By -
Image
5 Strongest Drinks Mixed Drink Recipes #5: The Long Island Ice Tea. This one is a classic. I can remember the first time a friend introduced me to this. After three I was laughing because they were so smooth then I stood up. Then something happened (obvious censoring) and everyone laughed at me for months after. Good times. The Long Island Ice Tea was long the king (queen?) of all strong alcoholic mixed drinks, and still deserves a place on the list. Recipe: 1 shot of vodka, 1 shot of rum, 1 shot of gin, 1 shot of gin, 1 shot of triple sec, 1 lemon, coke. Fill a cocktail shaker with ice add the spirits into the cocktail shaker. Squeeze a fresh lemon into the shaker as well. Put the lid on and shake, add to a tall glass then add lots of ice before slowly pouring the coke on top of the ice. Note: many bartenders will make a weaker version with only half a shot of each. #4: Irish Car Bomb. Many versions of this have a ½ shot of whiskey mixed with a ½ shot of Irish Crea...
Read more