Tip
Force new File Explorer windows to open as tabs in Windows 11, making your workflow cleaner and more organized!
Important
This application requires Windows 11 (22H2 Build 22621 or later) with the File Explorer Tabs feature.
Say goodbye to cluttered desktops with multiple Explorer windows! Explorer Tab Utility automatically converts new windows into tabs, providing a cleaner and more organized file management experience.
🔄 Automatic Window to Tab Conversion
- Seamlessly converts new Explorer windows into tabs
- Switches to existing tabs if path is already opened
- Supports virtual desktop switching with a hotkey
- Supports attaching/detaching tabs
- Handles "Show in folder" file selection elegantly
- Handles opening multiple tabs at once
See it in action:
🖨️ Duplicate Current Tab
- Quickly duplicate the current tab/window
- Choose whether to duplicate as a tab or new window (toggle
Taboption) - Preserves the current location and selected items
See it in action:
♻️ Reopen Closed Tabs
- Reopen previously closed tabs/windows
- Choose whether to reopen as a tab or new window (toggle
Taboption) - Restores the exact location and selected items
- History is saved across application restarts (enable "Save closed history" in settings)
See it in action:
🔄 Restore Previous Windows
- Automatically restore previously opened windows if File-Explorer restart/crash or system reboot
- Configurable via "Restore previous windows" setting
- Confirmation dialog allows you to choose whether to restore windows on first launch
📋 Detach & Snap Windows
- Detach current tab to a new window
- Snap windows to screen edges (right/left/top/bottom)
- Chain multiple actions with a single hotkey
- Example setup (CTRL + Q):
- First profile: Detach current tab
- Second profile: Snap original window to the left
- Third profile: Snap new window to the right (with customizable delay)
- Customize delays to match your system's performance
See it in action:
⬅️ Navigate Back & Forward
- Navigate back/forward/up in File Explorer using:
- Keyboard shortcuts (customizable)
- Mouse clicks on any empty space in the folder
- Perfect for quick navigation between directories
See it in action:
📁 Custom Path Navigation
- Assign hotkeys to quickly open your favorite locations
- Choose whether to open as a tab or new window (toggle
Taboption) - Supports multiple formats:
- Standard paths:
C:\Users\Documents - Environment variables:
%USERPROFILE%\Downloads - Windows CLSID paths:
{A8CDFF1C-4878-43be-B5FD-F8091C1C60D0}(Special Folders) - Programs and files:
C:\file.txt - URLs:
https://github.com/w4po/ExplorerTabUtility(opens in default browser)
- Standard paths:
- Perfect for frequently accessed locations
- Instant access to system folders using CLSIDs
See it in action:
🔍 Tab Search/Switcher
- Quickly find and switch between open Explorer tabs/windows
- Search by typing part of a folder name or path
- Keyboard navigation with up/down arrows and Enter to select
- Special modifiers for different actions:
- Default: Switch to existing tab or open location in a new tab
- SHIFT key: Open selected location in a new window instead of a tab
- CTRL key: Duplicate the tab even if it already exists
- Clear recently closed windows history with a single click
🪟 Force New Window with Ctrl+Shift
- Hold Ctrl+Shift while opening a location to force it to open as a new window
- Temporarily overrides the window hook and tab reuse settings
- Perfect for when you need a separate window without disabling the tab functionality
⚡ Performance & Reliability
- Lightweight and resource-efficient
- Fast and responsive tab creation
- Stable COM-based implementation
- Reliable window state management
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Download the latest version from the Releases page or install it via
wingetorchoco:winget install w4po.ExplorerTabUtility --interactivechoco install explorertabutility --version 2.5.0 --params "/interactive"
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Run the application
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Look for the tray icon and you're ready to go!
Note
The application runs in the system tray minimized by default. To configure it, double-click or right-click the tray icon. 8000
🔧 General Settings
- Window Hook: Enable/disable automatic window-to-tab conversion
- Reuse Tabs: Switch to existing tabs instead of opening duplicates
- Keyboard Hook: Enable/disable keyboard shortcuts
- Mouse Hook: Enable/disable mouse navigation features
- Startup: Configure automatic startup with Windows
- Settings Persistence:
- Your settings are stored in a JSON file located in your AppData folder:
If you need to reset to default settings, simply delete the settings.json file.%APPDATA%\ExplorerTabUtility\settings.json
⚙️ Preferences
- Auto update: Automatically check for updates on startup to ensure you're always using the latest version
- I have theme issues: Use an alternative window hiding method that preserves your custom File Explorer theme. Enable this if you experience theme-related issues
- Save closed history: Save recently closed windows for reopening later (ReopenClosed, Tab Search)
- Restore previous windows: Restore previously opened windows after restart or crash
- Hide tray icon: Hide the system tray icon for a cleaner taskbar experience.
- You must first configure a hotkey with the
ToggleVisibilityaction before enabling this option
- You must first configure a hotkey with the
⌨️ Hotkey Profile Management
- Create new profiles
- Import profiles from file
- Export profiles to file
- Enable/disable individual profiles
Each profile contains the following settings:
-
Basic Configuration
- Hotkey: Set keyboard shortcut (supports modifier keys)
- Scope: Global (system-wide) or Explorer (only in File Explorer)
- Action Type:
Open: Open a specific locationDuplicate: Duplicate the current tabReopenClosed: Reopen the last closed locationTabSearch: Open the tab search/switcher popupNavigateBack: Navigate back in the current tabNavigateForward: Navigate forward in the current tabNavigateUp: Navigate up one directory levelSetTargetWindow: Mark the current window as the target for new tabsToggleWinHook: Toggle the window hook on/offToggleReuseTabs: Toggle tab reuse on/offToggleVisibility: Show/hide the main windowDetachTab: Detach the current tab to a new windowSnap: Snap the current window to the screen edges (right/left/top/bottom)
- Path Field (for
Openaction)- Optional: Leave empty to open new tab
- Supports multiple path formats (see Custom Path Navigation section)
-
Advanced Settings
- Execution Delay: Slider to set delay before action execution
- Key Handling: Toggle whether hotkeys are passed to other applications
- Profile Deletion: Remove unwanted profiles
[!TIP] Use the "Handled" toggle to prevent or allow hotkey propagation to other applications that might be listening for the same key combination.
[!NOTE] The
SetTargetWindowaction lets you choose which Explorer window will receive new tabs. This is useful when you have multiple Explorer windows open or working on different virtual desktops and want to control where new tabs appear.
Implementation Overview
- Direct interaction with Windows Shell through native COM interfaces:
Shell32: Core shell functionality and file system operationsSHDocVw: Explorer window and tab management- Custom COM interface implementations for reliable shell interactions
- Efficient PIDL (Pointer to ID List) handling for file system operations
- Thread-safe COM object lifecycle management
- Advanced window tracking and state management:
- Concurrent collections for thread-safe window tracking
- Efficient tab handle caching and validation
- Smart window-to-tab conversion logic
- Support for special folder navigation (CLSID paths)
- Robust Explorer process monitoring:
- Automatic recovery from Explorer crashes
- Event-driven architecture for responsive UI
- Efficient window event hooking
- Asynchronous operation handling:
- STA (Single-threaded Apartment) task scheduler
- Non-blocking COM operations
- Proper synchronization with SemaphoreSlim
- Smart caching mechanisms:
- Window handle caching
- Path comparison optimization
- Tab state tracking
- Efficient resource management:
- Proper COM object disposal
- Memory-efficient collections
- Minimal window recreation
- Modern WPF-based user interface:
- XAML-based UI components for better flexibility and design
- Custom themes and styles in dedicated XAML files
- Improved visual consistency with Windows 11 design language
- Enhanced system tray integration:
- Modern WPF-based TaskbarIcon implementation
- XAML-based context menu with Windows 11 iconography
- Custom icons and hover effects for better visual feedback
- Tab Search popup with modern styling and keyboard navigation
- About page with developer information and support options
- .NET 9 and .NET Framework 4.8.1
- Windows COM APIs
- Shell32 and SHDocVw interfaces
- Native P/Invoke
- Advanced threading with STA scheduler
- Concurrent collections for thread safety
- WPF (Windows Presentation Foundation) for modern UI
The utility can be uninstalled in several ways depending on how you installed it:
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If you installed using the installer: Use the standard Windows uninstaller
- Go to "Settings > Apps > Installed apps"
- Find "Explorer Tab Utility" and click "Uninstall"
- Or use Control Panel > Programs and Features
- Or run the uninstaller directly from the installation directory
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If you installed via winget:
winget uninstall w4po.ExplorerTabUtility
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If you installed via Chocolatey:
choco uninstall explorertabutility
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If you used the portable version: Simply delete the application folder
- If you enabled the
Add to startupoption, make sure to disable it first before deletion
- If you enabled the
Warning
The utility might be flagged by antivirus software as suspicious. This is a false positive caused by our use of:
- COM interactions (for File Explorer tab management)
- Low-level keyboard & mouse hooks (for hotkey support)
The tool is completely open source, and you can:
- Review the source code in this repository
- Build it yourself using Visual Studio
- Verify its safety and functionality
If Windows Defender is blocking the utility, you can add it to the exclusions list:
- Open Windows Security
- Go to
Virus & threat protection - Click
Manage settingsunderVirus & threat protection settings - Scroll down to
Exclusionsand clickAdd or remove exclusions - Click
Add an exclusionand selectFolder - Browse to the Explorer Tab Utility folder location
Alternatively, you can use PowerShell (Run as Administrator):
Add-MpPreference -ExclusionPath "PATH_TO_UTILITY_FOLDER"Note
While this utility is optimized for best performance, some operations might experience delays due to limitations in Windows File Explorer itself:
- The File Explorer's tab interface lacks proper APIs for programmatic control
- Some operations in File Explorer are inherently laggy, especially with multiple simultaneous window operations
- Windows Shell doesn't expose all the necessary functionality for seamless tab management
Despite these Windows limitations, the utility implements the best possible solutions using available Windows APIs and COM interfaces.
If you find Explorer Tab Utility helpful, consider supporting its development:
Your support helps maintain and improve the project! ❤️
Thank you to all the amazing people who support this project!
Contributions are welcome! Feel free to submit issues and pull requests.
This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for detail 89BE s.
This project makes use of the following excellent open-source packages:
- H.Hooks - Efficient and reliable keyboard hook implementation
- Hardcodet.NotifyIcon.Wpf - Modern WPF-based system tray icon implementation
Special thanks to the maintainers of these packages for their excellent work!
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