Computer Fundamentals – Windows File explorer or Windows explorer

Windows explorer provides a way to organize your files and folders. Every time you open, say, your Documents folder or the photos folder, that’s an instance of Windows Explorer. The tool’s fundamental purpose is to let you view, open, copy, move, and otherwise manage your files and folders.

Note: Don’t confuse windows or file explorer with Microsoft windows explorer which is used for web browsing or to go online/internet.

How to open Windows Explorer

There are several ways to open a new Explorer window, which vary slightly depending on which version of Windows you are running.

• In all versions of Windows, Press Windows key+E (hold down the Windows key and press E). Click Start and select Run (or press Windows key + R), then type explorer or explorer.exe and press Enter.
• In Windows 10, Press the Windows key+X to open the Power User Tasks Menu, then select File Explorer (or press E). Click Start, select Programs, select Accessories, then Windows Explorer or Explorer.

Things you can do in Windows/File explorer

Windows or File explorer is used for organizing files and folders. You can create a folder, save file in the folder. Rename, delete or move a file. You can also search for a folder.

Tip: Always organize your files and folders according to their relevance.

Folder

A folder, also called a directory, is a space used to store files, other folders, and shortcuts on a computer. A good analogy is the manila folders seen in an office to store papers or reports. When browsing computer files using a file manager, such as Windows Explorer, the icon for a folder should look similar to the image.

How are files different than a folder?

A folder is an area on the computer that contains other folders and files and helps keep the computer organized. Files can be contained within a folder and contain information used by the operating system or other programs on the computer. Folders don’t have an extension but every file has an extension for e.g. MS-word files have an extension of .doc or docx. MS-Excel files have an extension of .xls or xlsx.

Every folder and file have a name, date modified, type and size.

It has a path (also called address bar) too (highlighted in red) which displays the location or address of the folder/file. Path helps you in locating your files.

You can also see the number of files in a folder.

Default Drives and Folders in Windows/file explorer

Windows provides you with some default drives and folder. C:/ drive or D drive is your main drive on your laptop and everything resides in these drives.

They are usually depicted as shown below:

This display may slightly differ depending on your organization. Your organization may have many other drives too such as dropbox, one drive or any other shared or network drives.

Default folders

Windows/file explorer have the following default folders.

• Quick access. This folder keeps all the frequently used files and folders.
• Desktop. This is your desktop folder. All files and folders present in your desktop (first screen when you switch on your computer) is present here.
• Documents. This is the default location of all the documents created.
• Downloads. This is the default location of any download you perform from the internet.
• Music. This is the default location to store all the music files.
• Pictures. This is the default location to store all the pictures.
• Videos. This is the default location to store all the videos.

Tip: These are just the default folders but you can keep your files in any folder according to your preference.

How to open a folder

Navigate to your desired folder and double-click it to open it. It will display all the contained sub-folders and files.

To open a file, double-click on the file. The file in open in its default application. For e.g. if you double click on a word file, it will open in MS-word application.

How to create a directory or folder  

Follow the below steps to create a folder.

1. Open Windows explorer
2. Open the drive or folder where you’d like to create the new folder; for example, the C: drive.  If you do not want to create a folder in the root directory, browse to the location of your choosing.
3. In Windows 10 on the Home tab, click the New folder icon.
4. You can also right-click with your mouse on a blank portion of the folder, select New and then Folder.

How to delete a folder

To delete a folder, right-click on the folder and select delete from the menu. You can also delete by selecting a folder and hitting delete key on your keyboard.

Remember:

• Deleting a folder will delete all files and folders underneath it. If a file is open on your system, it cannot be deleted.
• Simply deleting a file or folder will move it to recycle bin folder from which it can be retrieved.
• To permanently delete a file press Shift + delete on your keyboard.