Hello, I recently had the task of sorting out a very large number of files and folders on my Windows 7 system. I found the Explorer interface to be a huge pain to work with and wondered if anyone can suggest improvements or alternatives please.
When I used Windows XP I could turn off all extra window “dressings” to give a very minimalist view on opened windows, like this:
This meant that I could open lots of windows and drag between them without extra stuff taking up too much screen space. Also, Windows XP remembered where each window was when it was closed, so it opened in the same place the next time.
With Windows 7/8 the best I can do is this:
Which takes up a lot more space with the title bar at the top and the tree view down the left. Also, and more frustratingly, every new window comes up wherever the last one was when it was closed or opens at the location of the present active window. It doesn’t remember the location of individual folder windows so I have to move them about and arrange each time. I also find the folder contents icons to be a bit similar between item types, XP had a much clearer definition so I could see at a glance what was in each folder.
In the old days there were plenty of third party file managers or explorer replacements and nosing about the Web shows that there are lots available but it is a bit difficult to try one after the other, installing / removing then finding out it’s a limited demo or the like. Plus I was really after a smarter “explorer” rather than an add on file manager if possible.
I wondered if anyone has recommendations in this respect, or maybe just advice on a smarter way to use Win7/8?
In Windows 7, at least, you can disable the Navigation pane on the left in the Organize/Layour menu, and under “Organize/Folder and search options” you can select “Open each folder in its own window”.
In Windows 8 you shoud be able to hide the ribbon bar with the little up-arrow icon in the upper right.
As usual Gizmo’s Freeware has the standard thorough discussion, explaining the pros and cons of all the free options.
If you haven’t checked it out it is always my first port of call for any software I want to download. Just a great site which surprisingly doesn’t seem to be as well known as it deserves to be.
I want to make sure that you know you can drag and drop items from the window on the right to the folders in the folder tree on the left. I find this much easier than managing mulitple windows. But to each his own.
Perhaps, despite the thread title, this is specifically a Windows 8 problem. I have Windows 7 and I have never even seen most of the clutter displayed in your second picture. Having poked around a bit just now, I could not even find a way to get 7’s version of Explorer to display that ribbon, or the icons (Cut, Paste etc.) to the upper right of your image.
On the other hand, it is quite easy to get rid of the Navigation Pane and other spurious panes and bars by using the Organize menu as Ximenean says. This will get you an Explorer window that just as stripped down and clutter free as your XP example.
There are aspects of W7 Explorer that I find inferior to the XP version. In particular, I hate the fact that it does not seem to be possible to get some folders (such as ones kept on the desktop) to open without a navigation pane, unless the pane is turned off for all Explorer windows globally. I also hate how folders in the navigation pane spring open if hovered over momentarily. (Is there perhaps, a way, that I have not found, to slow this response down? It has frequently led me drop files into the wrong sub-folder.) I could continue with a longer list of gripes. However, the OP’s gripe is not among them. It just is not the case that it is impossible, or even hard, to strip out the clutter from a W7 Explorer window.
Maybe, though, this gives me yet one more reason to have absolutely no interest in getting Windows 8.
Hello, many thanks for the replies so far, very useful indeed.
Not sure if there is an “organize” in Win 8 but it worked on my other Win 7. Total facepalm that I never saw the little arrow to hide the ribbon :smack:
That is a great site! Thanks for the link.
Again, total facepalm I never realised that before :smack: thanks!
Apologies, I should have said that the second screenshot is a Windows 8 PC with a ribbon instead of a menu bar. Also the extra toolbar comes from “ClassicShell” which gives you an old-style start button and a useful “up one level” button in explorer windows.
Please feel free to put your own explorer gripes forward, it’s all good info, for example in don’t ask’s linked site they made the point that a lot of replacement managers don’t do “undo” with the ctrl-Z shortcut. So it will help me think about features I might not consider otherwise.
I’ve had two paid copies of Directory Opus since version 8 and paid for the updates to v9 and v10. It’s an extremely powerful and customizable file manager and its complexity reflects that, and to me it’s worth every penny. Give the evaluation a try.
