5 windows explorer hacks you should know

Windows explorer is also known as file explorer in Windows 8. We all use windows explorer daily, there is no doubt in that. We Customize our web browsers with add ons and plugins then why not Customize Windows Explorer to make it more easy to use and efficient.

Earlier we saw How to Customize folders with different Colors which can also be added in this tutorial today of Cool Windows explorer hacks

5 Cool Windows Explorer Hacks

1)Start Your Favorite Folder on Click:

Windows 7 comes with a pinned explorer folder to the taskbar which when clicked opens the Library as the default folder. If you don’t use Windows library often enough and would like to change the default folder to one of your preferred ones then you want to open on Click

• To Start with we will Right click on the Windows Explorer from the task bar icon. A list will show up, Now again Click on Windows Explorer (File Explorer) and Click on Properties.

• You can see a Dialog Box appears, There you Can see target path is somewhat likeAppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Libraries all we have to do is change this path to your desired folder that you want to open up every time you launch file explorer.

• As here we are going to Change it to Download Folder we will change the path to C:\Users\*Username*\Downloads. Click OK and we have successfully changed the path now.

2) Add Copy to and Move to Folder options : 

We can add “Copy to Folder” and “Move to Folder” to your Context Menu. Windows Don’t Provide these options by default but we can add with a simple Registry hack.

To add Copy to and move to  folder Option : Click here to Download Add_Move_To_Folder.reg File

And Click here to Download Add_Move_To_Folder.reg file. 

These files are  small regsitry file for windows that will help you to add Copy to folder and Move to Folder option. Once downloaded, Double click on it, Click Run when Prompted. then you may be asked to click on yes and ok Couple of times.

When Everything is done, Right Click on any folder and check if its Showing Move to and Copy to Folder options. You Can see Move to and Copy to Folders are now added to your Context menu like mine.

Tip: Hold Down CTRL key , Drag and drop Source file to Destination to Copy it. And Hold down SHIFT key, Drag and Drop Source file to Destination to Move it.

3)Select using Checkboxes

Many a times we find ourselves in situations where we need to select multiple files in Windows explorer to. Suppose you need to copy multiple images or songs to a removable drive, or you want to drag and drop some songs in the play list. Most of us will hold down the Ctrl key to select these files to do the task at hand.

Well, the point here is why use two hands when it can be done using the mouse alone. What you can do it, you can enable the checkbox view in Windows Explorer and select multiple files. 

Step 1. Open Windows explorer.

Step 2. On the top navigation bar, click on Organize –> Folder and search options. Or click onView>Options>Change folder and search options.

Step 3. Now click on View tab on the top, scroll down the Advanced settings pane (where you see all kinds of checkboxes) and check the box that says “Use checkboxes to select items.” Then, click OK.

Step 4. You’ll now find that whenever you hover the mouse cursor over any file or folder in Windows explorer, it automatically shows a checkbox to help you select it.

4) Better File Copying Speed: 

Windows have made some efforts in windows 8 to improve Copying Speed. Copying FIles is better in windows 8 as compared to older versions but yet its slow and many times it Conflicts, so We will be Using TeraCopy to Takeup this task and its Fast and Effective. What it does is, it  Eliminates windows Default File-Copy Dialog  and gives us a better one.

After Installing TeraCopy, Whenever you Will Copy and paste, TeraCopy will Come into Action and do the Task for you much Faster. it also adds itself to Context Menu as an Option if in Case you prefer to Use it only when you Want to .

5) Add Tabs in Windows Explorer: 

Apple’s Finder is getting tabs in OS X Mavericks, and Linux file managers have had tabs for a long time. But Windows Explorer is still without tabs, even on Windows 8. Internet Explorer was the last big browser to get tabs, and it seems that Windows Explorer will be the last big file manager to get tabs if it ever does.

While you can replace Windows Explorer with tabbed file managers, you don’t have to switch to a new file manager just for this small feature. Third-party tools like QTTabBar can add tabs to Windows Explorer, giving you the ability to have several folders open in the same file browsing window.

All you have to do is Install it and you may be asked to reboot yur Pc. so do it to enjoy tabs in Windows Explorer.