14 DAY TRIAL // Windows 10 May 2020 Update, or version 2004, will go live this month with a plethora of improvements, and some of them concern the search experience in File Explorer.
File Explorer continues to be the preferred file manager in the operating system, despite lacking so many features that are currently available in third-party alternatives.
One is tab support, something that Microsoft itself planned to add at some point in File Explorer but which has since been pulled possibly to be reintroduced at a later time.
Meanwhile, the search experience in File Explorer is getting new options as it’s now powered by Windows Search. Microsoft says it adds the OneDrive content alongside your locally-stored files, so overall, you’ll be provided with better results that would help you find the content you need faster.
The most noticeable change is the addition of suggestions in the search box. These are generated while you type, similar to how everything works on Google, for example.
“Once you have the new experience, as you type in File Explorer’s search box, you’ll now see a dropdown populated with suggested files at your fingertips that you can pick from,” Microsoft explains.
Another improvement that’s coming very handy and which is supposed to speed up opening the files that you find in the File Explorer search box. More specifically, you will be able to click any of the search results to open it in a second. Additional options are available in a context menu if you right-click a search result.
“These improved results can be launched directly by clicking the entry in the new suggestions box, or if you want to open the file location, just right-click the entry and there’ll be an option to do so. If you need to use commands or dig deeper into non-indexed locations, you can still press enter and populate the view with the traditional search results,” Microsoft says.
Microsoft is also added more options that remind of a search engine in File Explorer. When you click the box to type a new keyword, the file manager should display a list with the previous searches. This is obviously something that is very useful if you search for certain information on a regular basis, while at the same time go back to some searches that you performed in the past.
Needless to say, you can always remove the search history should you want to keep the list clean.
Windows 10 version 2004 has already been finalized and all the aforementioned improvements are now available for Windows insiders in the Release Preview ring. This is actually the easiest way to try out everything coming to users with version 2004 before the production rollout begins, so you can install the Release Preview ring by either enrolling in the Insider ring or by simply downloading the ISO image and deploying it in a virtual machine. The rollout of Windows 10 version 2004 will take place in stages, which means that not everyone gets it on day one. The software giant uses this approach in an attempt to discover new bugs early and then suspend the release for other devices that could be impacted.
However, alternative download methods would still be provided, including the Media Creation Tool and standalone ISO images, which users can turn to in order to install the new feature update without waiting for the automatic rollout on Windows Update. This isn’t recommended if an upgrade block is in place, but these methods are specifically aimed at power users and for additional testing.