Windows 11’s File Explorer, while not the most glamorous application, serves as a cornerstone for users managing their digital lives. Over the years, Microsoft has made strides in enhancing this essential tool, yet it still falls short in comparison to some third-party alternatives. Certain features from other Microsoft applications that could significantly elevate File Explorer’s functionality remain absent, leaving users yearning for more.
Enter the Explorer Tab Utility, a program designed to bridge this gap by introducing additional capabilities to File Explorer. Available for free on the Explorer Tab Utility GitHub page, this tool offers various ways for users to support its development financially.
The Explorer Tab Utility introduces several practical features, such as the ability to open File Explorer windows as tabs, duplicate existing tabs, navigate custom paths, and even reopen closed tabs using a keyboard shortcut. The latter feature particularly caught my attention, as I had assumed File Explorer already supported it. To my surprise, I discovered that this functionality was missing, and I found myself utilizing the CTRL+SHIFT+T shortcut to restore closed tabs multiple times during my testing of the utility.
Despite having a dark mode for several years, Windows has struggled with incomplete UI elements related to file management. Although tabs were finally integrated into File Explorer in 2022, the hope is that the Explorer Tab Utility will inspire Microsoft to enhance File Explorer further. The familiarity of shortcuts like CTRL+SHIFT+T feels intuitive on Windows 11, especially since similar functionality exists in Microsoft Edge.
A recent update has ushered in Explorer Tab Utility version 2.0.0, bringing with it a host of improvements and new features. Below is a summary of the changes highlighted on the program’s GitHub page:
Major Architectural Changes
- Complete COM Integration: Replaced UI Automation and keyboard simulation with native COM using Shell32 and SHDocVw interfaces, including IShellWindows, IShellBrowser, and IServiceProvider.
- Improved Thread Safety: Introduced StaTaskScheduler and proper synchronization for COM operations.
- Better State Management: Implemented robust window and tab state tracking using concurrent collections.
New Features
- Smart Tab Switching: Automatically switches to existing tabs rather than creating duplicates.
- Tab History: Reopen closed tabs with the CTRL+SHIFT+T shortcut.
- Tab Flexibility:
- Support for detaching and reattaching tabs between windows.
- Ability to set a target window for new tabs.
- Handles multiple tabs opening simultaneously.
- Enhanced Hotkey System:
- Toggle window hook to enable or disable tab conversion.
- Toggle tab reuse for smart tab switching.
- Toggle utility visibility.
- Expanded support for hotkey combinations.
Technical Improvements
- Native Windows integration through COM interfaces.
- Eliminated UI automation dependencies and timing issues.
- Proper tab lifecycle management with ShellWindows events.
- Thread-safe operations utilizing SemaphoreSlim and concurrent collections.
- Improved form visibility management.
- Enhanced handling of race conditions between window events.