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Microsoft Working on Major File Explorer Update

A new details pane is apparently in the works

Jan 16, 2023 05:16 GMT  ·  By
The new File Explorer feature
   The new File Explorer feature

File Explorer has long been ignored by Microsoft despite being one of the most popular features in Windows, but fortunately, the company seems to be a lot more committed to improving the experience with the file manager these days.

After shipping support for tabs, which is without a doubt the number one feature request in the File Explorer community, it now looks like the company is getting ready for another big update.

Twitter user PhantomOcean3 has discovered (via Neowin) that Microsoft is working on a brand-new details pane for File Explorer. It’s already included in the Windows 11 build 25272 that was released to the Dev channel not a long time ago.

Fortunately, this new feature can already be enabled, so we can take a look at the way Microsoft wants to overhaul File Explorer before the new features officially become available.

Likely to be enabled in preview builds soon

At first glance, the purpose of this update is quite simple: Microsoft wants to make it easier for users to get information on their files.

As a result, the new pane, which opens on the right side of the UI, includes details like the file activity (the most recent modifications and who made them, especially if other users are allowed to work with the files), related files (which comes in handy mostly in a company network where certain documents would be easier to find), related conversations in Outlook (where the file was attached and sent by mail), and file information.

Everything would therefore be at a one-click distance, so just clicking the files would reveal all this data without the need for opening the properties UI.

At this point, it’s not yet clear when the new feature is projected to launch for users, but given it already feels pretty polished in the Windows Insider builds, this shouldn’t take too long in the first place.