file explorer

Windows 11 contains dozens of underused tools for customization, multitasking, security, backup, accessibility, gaming, phone integration, file management, and AI-assisted work, and a recent PCMag Australia roundup highlights 32 features that many everyday users and IT pros still overlook. The...

Windows 11 includes dozens of easy-to-miss features for changing the Start menu, managing windows, tightening sign-in security, connecting phones, using AI tools, compressing archives, restoring PCs, and improving accessibility, many of them already built into Settings, File Explorer, or...

Microsoft is responding to years of Windows 11 performance complaints by accelerating its WinUI 3 native interface work in May 2026, publishing early File Explorer and Notepad benchmark gains while also adding command-line templates and AI-assisted tooling for Windows App SDK developers. This is...

Microsoft said in May 2026 that it has cut the time spent in WinUI 3 code during File Explorer launch by about 25 percent, alongside large reductions in allocations and function calls, as part of a broader effort to make Windows 11 feel faster. That is not just a framework tuning story. It is...

Microsoft is testing performance work for Windows 11’s WinUI 3 interface stack in May 2026, with reported File Explorer launch improvements including 41 percent fewer memory allocations, 63 percent fewer transient allocations, 45 percent fewer function calls, and 25 percent less time spent in...

Microsoft has confirmed in May 2026 that it is optimizing WinUI 3 as Windows 11’s forward-looking native interface framework, using File Explorer and Notepad as benchmark apps and reporting double-digit reductions in launch-time allocations, calls, and WinUI execution time. The promise is not...

Microsoft is preparing Windows 11's native interface to feel faster in 2026, using its Windows K2 responsiveness push to tune WinUI 3, reduce File Explorer launch overhead, and pair framework fixes with short CPU boost behavior known as Low Latency Profile. The interesting part is not that...

Microsoft’s Windows 11 Experimental Preview Build 26300.8376, released to Insiders on May 8, 2026, changes File Explorer so large files show readable MB and GB sizes in Details view while also testing the return of missing right-click actions such as Refresh and Print. That sounds minor until...

Microsoft has begun optimizing WinUI 3 itself as part of its Windows 11 performance push, with early File Explorer launch benchmarks showing fewer allocations, fewer transient allocations, fewer function calls, and less time spent inside WinUI code. That is the more important story behind the...

Microsoft is testing a Windows 11 File Explorer update in Experimental Build 26300.8376 that restores Refresh and Print to the modern right-click menu, changes Details view to show file sizes in KB, MB, or GB, and improves address-bar and context-menu behavior. The change is small in code but...

On May 8, 2026, Microsoft released Windows 11 Insider Preview builds 26220.8370, 26300.8376, 28020.2075, and 29585.1000 across its Beta, Experimental, Experimental 26H1, and Experimental Future Platforms channels, led by new precision touchpad scrolling and gesture controls. The headline is not...

Microsoft released Windows 11 Insider Beta build 26220.8370 and Experimental build 26300.8376 on May 8, 2026, giving testers a free K–12 upgrade path from Windows 11 Home to Pro Education while piloting File Explorer, touchpad, administrator protection, notification, and shortcut reliability...

Microsoft acknowledged in early May 2026 that Windows 11 File Explorer performance still needs deeper work after criticism of its background preloading experiment, with Windows engineer Tali Roth saying the company is using preloading alongside broader fixes for loading, responsiveness, disk...

Microsoft is now promising deeper Windows 11 File Explorer performance work in May 2026, after earlier testing a background preloading trick in Insider builds to make the file manager launch faster on first use. The promise matters because File Explorer is not a side app; it is the front door to...

Microsoft released KB5083631 on April 30, 2026, as an optional non-security preview update for Windows 11 versions 24H2 and 25H2, bringing File Explorer reliability fixes, Delivery Optimization memory improvements, faster startup-app behavior, and a long-delayed FAT32 formatting limit increase...

Microsoft is working on a modern WinUI 3 replacement for File Explorer’s legacy Properties dialog in Windows 11, according to findings in recent Insider builds reported on May 4, 2026 by Windows Latest. The change appears to move one of Windows’ most stubbornly old-fashioned surfaces out of the...

Microsoft’s latest Windows 11 reset is a 2026 campaign to improve performance, reliability, updates, File Explorer, Search, Start, and the taskbar after years of user frustration, but it arrives after the operating system’s reputation hardened into a punchline. The company can still change...

Microsoft’s late-April Windows 11 updates and Insider builds show a deliberate shift toward reducing everyday friction, with Xbox mode, File Explorer fixes, quieter Widgets, a redesigned Run dialog, stronger admin controls, and reported “K2” quality work arriving as Windows 10’s deadline looms...

Microsoft used April 2026 Insider builds and Windows blog posts to preview a broad Windows 11 repair campaign, including a redesigned Insider Program, less coercive Windows Update behavior, reduced Copilot clutter, File Explorer performance work, quieter widgets, and scheduler tuning for better...

Microsoft released KB5083631 on April 30, 2026, an optional non-security preview update for Windows 11 versions 24H2 and 25H2 that targets File Explorer reliability, startup performance, storage handling, enterprise app removal, batch-file hardening, and a new taskbar surface for AI agent...