The Libraries feature was introduced in Windows 7 as part of the updated Explorer application. It allows you to consolidate multiple folders under a single Library so that content across various locations can be aggregated in a single folder-like view. The default libraries created in Windows are intended to group similar content like Pictures, Videos, Music and Documents. For example, the two Pictures folders - the one for your user account and the Public (Shared) pictures folder - are both included in the Pictures Library. You can add your own folders to any custom or predefined library. By default, Windows shows folders inside a library in the order in which you added those folders. You might be interested in reorganizing them and change their display order. It is a very simple, but not so obvious feature of Libraries. In this article, we will see how to re-order folders inside any Windows library.
Tag: File Explorer
How to create a copy for a file quickly in Explorer
Copying is one of the easiest things in Windows and is extremely simple ever since Windows 95. In this article, I would like to save your time a little and share with you how to make a backup copy with just two keyboard shortcuts - this is the fastest way I know.
How to assign browser-like zooming hotkeys for resizing icons on the Desktop and in the Explorer window in Windows 8.1 and Windows 8
In our previous article, we reviewed a trick which allows you to switch between File Explorer views quickly by holding down Ctrl key and scrolling with the mouse. Now I would like to share with you how to resize icons in the File Explorer window or on the Desktop with extra hotkeys. These hotkeys are used by default in all modern browsers for zooming in and out. Similarly, you will be able to zoom icons in Explorer windows quickly. The trick will work in Windows Vista, 7, 8 and 8.1. Let's take a look.
How to resize icons quickly on the Desktop and in the Explorer window in Windows 8.1 and Windows 8
In modern versions of Windows, File Explorer has the ability to show your files and folders at several different sizes and views. These sizes include Extra Large icons, Large icons, Medium icons, List, Details, Tiles and Content. To switch between views, you can use a set of hotkeys, or the appropriate Ribbon commands, or two tiny buttons on the Explorer status bar in the bottom right corner of the open window. In this article, we will review another method, which is very fancy and fast. What's great is that this same method also works on Windows 7 and Vista.
How to start Explorer in a separate process in Windows 8.1, Windows 8 and Windows 7
By default, File Explorer (Windows Explorer) opens all its windows in a single process. That process is called explorer.exe. Explorer.exe and its associated DLLs include all of the user interface in Windows - the taskbar, the Start button and the Start menu, as well as the Start screen in Windows 8. When something goes wrong in one of Explorer's windows such as a hang or a crash, it can cause the whole Explorer.exe process to be closed and restarted. All Explorer windows will be closed immediately, and the user interface (taskbar, Start button etc) disappears and loads again. Enabling Explorer to open separate processes for the file browser can improve the stability of the Explorer shell. Additionally, it is useful to test Registry tweaks you make as they will be applied directly because every new instance of Explorer will read its settings from the registry every time you open a new window. Let's see all the ways to start Explorer in a separate process.
How to show what action will happen when selected items are dragged in File Explorer
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.
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.
How to sort in any Explorer folder view by turning on column headers for sorting and filtering by property
In Windows Explorer in Windows 7 and Windows 8, many users prefer using the Details view because it gives you column headers at the top to sort items by clicking the properties or by filtering items. When you switch to any other view besides Details, the properties/headers a the top of the list of items disappear. Let's see how to turn them on all for views.
Get thumbnails for all possible image and video formats in Explorer folders
Windows supports viewing commonly used picture and video formats as thumbnails in Explorer folders. But for less common formats, it does not generate thumbnails. Also, in modern versions of Windows, the programming interface for generating thumbnails has changed compared to older versions such as Windows XP, so the old shell extensions to show thumbnails no longer work. Let's look at some modern ones that do work and generate thumbnails for all possible formats you might need.
Queue copy and move operations in Windows with PerigeeCopy
The copy function in Windows has evolved over time to add useful features but one feature it still doesn't have is the ability to automatically queue multiple copy jobs so they don't run simultaneously, that is, when one copy operation is running, another shouldn't start before the first one finishes to avoid slowing down both and the overall speed of copying too. A third party freeware called PerigeeCopy offers this feature along with a host of other cool features. Let's see what it's got to offer.
