Add tabs to Windows Explorer
Tabs have been an integral part of web browsers for a long time. Before that, users had to open a new browser window when they wanted to open multiple sites at once on their system. When you look at Windows Explorer, Widnows’ default file management tool, you come to wonder why Microsoft never bothered to improve the file manager with features that third party applications like Total Commander, QTabBar or Q-Dir offer. Probably the two biggest features missing are an interface supporting tabs and an option to display multiple folder contents next to each other in one window.
Tab Explorer is a free program for Windows that adds tabs to Windows Explorer. It does so in an unobtrusive way by merging all open Explorer windows into a single window of the file browser. Each open window is represented by a tab that the software attaches to the top of the single Explorer window.
The tab bar lists all open folders by their name on top of the program window. The position makes sure that it does not interfere with any existing toolbars or processes which is different from the way programs like QTabBar handle it (the latter adds a tab toolbar to Windows Explorer that sits between the top and bottom toolbars.
You can easily switch between tabs with a single click, and the transition is more or less instant. The arrow at the top left corner of the toolbar displays a list of all tabs which can be handy if you have lots of Explorer folders open on the system. The program reduces the width and font size of each tab automatically to avoid horizontal scrolling. You will eventually notice that folder names get cut off, and that’s where the down arrow comes in handy. Eventually though you will see scroll options. A button on the right of the tabbar creates a new tab when clicked on.
The program hides the tabs when you move the Explorer window on the system, and displays them again once you stop moving the window around.
You may ask yourself what is happening when you maximize the window? The tabs are displayed in the title bar then so that they stay accessible but do not reduce the contents that are displayed in the window.
If there is one thing that I think is missing, it is an option to copy or move files by drag and drop on tabs. There is also no option in the window controls to close all open windows at once.
The program is not a Windows Explorer add-on, which means that it needs to be started before the tabs are shown in Windows Explorer. The options let you add the program to the system startup. (via Dottech)
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