Windows 11’s native File Explorer, while efficient, often leaves users yearning for a more contemporary aesthetic and a richer feature set. Enter “Files,” a third-party application that has emerged as a standout alternative. Recently, it has undergone a substantial transformation with the release of version 3.9, marking the most significant update in years and introducing a host of exciting enhancements.
Redesigned Update Files button
The Update Files button has received a fresh design, featuring a vibrant accent-colored icon that makes it more prominent. This change aims to simplify the process of updating the application, ensuring users can easily stay current.
DPI awareness improvements
With the latest update, icons and thumbnails across various views—including Details, List, Columns, and Cards—are now DPI aware. This enhancement guarantees that users experience clarity and consistency on all display types. Additionally, the Tags Widget has been revamped to harmonize with the overall user interface, and a new feature allows users to apply tags effortlessly by dragging and dropping files onto tags in the sidebar.
Enhanced support for image files
Version 3.9 also brings improved functionality for image files. Users can now rotate JPEG-XR images directly through the toolbar or context menu, and set these images as desktop or lock screen backgrounds straight from the Files application.
Auto focus new tabs
A new setting has been introduced to automatically switch focus to newly created tabs, enhancing the user experience by streamlining navigation.
Improved Properties Window
The Properties Window has been enhanced, allowing users to browse for .icl files on the customization page. Furthermore, support for modifying the ‘compress contents’ attribute has been added, along with the ability to adjust window sizes for shortcut files.
New launch protocols
Individual launch protocols for each branch of Files have been implemented, simplifying the process of working with different versions of the application.
Performance enhancements
Performance has been a focal point of this update. Items in the breadcrumb flyout now begin loading immediately as the flyout opens, rather than waiting for it to fully expand. The removal of open and close animations from various flyouts has also contributed to a more responsive experience, while lazy loading of thumbnails in these flyouts reduces initial load times.
Improved Drag & Drop functionality
The drag-and-drop functionality has been refined, allowing the Files window to remain in the background when dragging items to other applications. Users can now also drag files directly from the Recent Files widget into other programs.
Archive support
Files now supports .gz archives as the default application for opening compressed files, enhancing accessibility. Additionally, updates to 7zip dependencies ensure users benefit from the latest improvements in archive management.
Details View settings
Users can now toggle columns via the Settings Dialog, with changes reflecting across all existing tabs, a significant improvement over the previous limitation.
Updated Home Page
The Home Page has been streamlined by removing the empty toolbar area, resulting in a cleaner and more organized appearance.
Address Bar keyboard navigation
Enhancements to keyboard navigation now allow users to open breadcrumb flyouts using the Space and Enter keys, further improving accessibility.
Taskbar
The Windows Taskbar will no longer display the number of open tabs, simplifying the visual interface.
Cloud Drive support
Support for Lucid Link v3 has been added, expanding the cloud drive capabilities of the application.
Files v3.9: Fixes
Actions
- Fixed a crash that occurred when using the ‘Storage Sense’ action.
- Resolved an issue with the ‘Run with PowerShell’ action for files with spaces in their names.
Address Bar
- Fixed keyboard navigation in the address path bar.
- Resolved an issue with duplicate items in the address bar flyouts.
Archives
- Fixed an issue where size wasn’t displayed after creating a new archive.
Cloud Drives
- Addressed various issues with Google Drive support.
Columns View
- Fixed unexpected scrolling in the Columns View layout.
- Resolved a crash when opening the context menu in the Columns View layout.
Drag & Drop
- Resolved multiple issues with drag & drop support between Files and other applications.
Git Repos
- Fixed misaligned soft link details in Git repositories.
Group By and Sort By
- Resolved an issue where grouping and sorting preferences only updated the current tab.
Right Click Context Menu
- Fixed an issue where right-clicking a file displayed the option to open in a new tab.
Startup
- Fixed a crash when starting Files from WSL directories.
- Resolved startup freeze caused by a heavily populated Recycle Bin.
- Fixed an issue where previous session tabs were briefly displayed when the startup setting was set to ‘open new tab’.
- Fixed an issue where launching Files from Terminal didn’t use the correct path.
Tabs
- Resolved an issue where tabs weren’t placed in the correct order when dragged from other windows.
Tags
- Resolved an issue with displaying properties for tagged items.
- Fixed an issue where tags sometimes displayed with the wrong color.
Title Bar
- Fixed an issue where the title bar drag region was sometimes missing.
