By default, when you drag an item in File Explorer from one location to another, the behavior is not very consistent. When you drag and drop from one location to another within the same volume (partition), the item gets moved. If you drag and drop across locations on different drives, the item by default is copied. In this article, I would like to share with you a simple tip on how to reliably know what action will happen when you use drag and drop on selected items in File Explorer.
Category: Windows File Explorer
How to open file or folder properties quickly in Windows File Explorer
You can see many details of a file or folder on your disk drive from its Properties. You can even access the metadata of media files from Properties. Properties can be accessed using the mouse by right clicking on the file or folder and then choosing Properties from the context menu. However, there is a faster way to open Properties too. In this article, I would like to share with you a way to open file or folder properties directly without opening the context menu or the Ribbon.
Turn on inline autocomplete for File Explorer of Windows 8.1
Today, I am going to share with you a brilliant tip which will significantly improve the usability of File Explorer in Windows 8.1. The inline autocomplete feature will save a lot of your time when you work with the Run or Open/Save File dialogs. Let's see the details.
Windows 8.1: How to enable Do this for all current items checkbox by default in copy dialog
In a recent article, I covered a simple trick to always show more details in the copy dialog of File Explorer. There is another trick which allows you to improve the usability of File Explorer in Windows 8.1. In this article, I would like to share a tweak which allows you to enable "Do this for all current items" checkbox by default. That checkbox is presented in the copy/move file confirmation dialog or in the conflict resolution dialog of Windows 8.1 and Windows 8.
Windows 8.1 : Always show more details in copy dialog of File Explorer
By default, in Windows 8.1, the copy, move and delete dialogs are collapsed and show less details than it is possible. If you would always like to see more details and want to avoid clicking on the More details button, then this article is for you.
How to switch between views in File Explorer with keyboard shortcuts
With Windows 8, the File Explorer application got the Ribbon interface, which exposes all the possible commands for quick access to regular file management features. This is an improvement for all users, but especially for new users who were not familiar with all features of Windows Explorer and did not use them. The Ribbon UI is a way to discover all useful features for them.
One of the tabs in the Ribbon is the "View" tab. From there, you will be able to switch between various views inside the Explorer window - each view represents files and folders differently. In this tutorial, we will see how to switch between those views quickly, using very simple keyboard shortcuts.
Use this secret keyboard shortcut to fit all columns in Explorer and other apps
Today, I would like to share with you one very special keyboard shortcut, which will improve your productivity and save a lot of time when you have to deal with columns, grids and tables. Using this shortcut, you will be able to size all columns to fit automatically in Windows File Explorer, Registry Editor, Task Manager or any other 3rd party application which support this tricky feature. Let's discover it!
How to change the icon of default libraries in Windows 8.1
In Windows 8, one of new features was an option to change the icon of a library. For some reason, Microsoft has restricted this option only to custom libraries, which were created by the user. For built-in Libraries, the icon cannot be changed from the Windows interface on Windows 8, nor on Windows 7.
Today, we will look at how to change the icon of any library, including the predefined/system libraries. The method I will cover is applicable to Windows 7 and Windows 8/8.1, but I will use Windows 8.1.
How to change the icon of a folder inside a Library
With Windows 7, Microsoft has introduced Libraries: a wonderful feature of the Explorer shell, which allows you to group multiple folders in a single view, even if they are located on different volumes. Searching through Libraries is also very fast, because Windows performs indexing of all locations which are included inside a Library.
If you use Libraries regularly, you might have noticed that when you open the Properties of a folder to change its icon, you are unable to do so because the Customize tab is missing from the folder's properties.
