New images suggest the upcoming Windows 11 File Explorer is a major redesign from Microsoft

Last week, Microsoft released the first Dev Channel build of 2023 on the Windows 11 Insider channel. Alongside multiple major bug fixes, build 25272 also had hidden files inside it which revealed that Microsoft is working behind the scenes on a new File Explorer overhaul. The leak gave us a fairly good idea of what is being developed which would contain a new home page, and many changes in the details pane which included the options:

• Insights
• Activities
• Properties
• Related Files
• Conversations
• Sharing status

Earlier today, Microsoft released another Dev channel build 25276, and the new build reveals more details about the upcoming File Explorer revamp. Although we already had a rough idea (from the early glimpse) of what the redesigned menus will look like, the latest leak sheds more light on what "Insights" is, particularly on the two features "Activities" and "Conversations". While Activities seems to show the modifications, etc., made in a file, the Conversations option is apparently will indicate the mails or messages that the file was a part of.:

Twitter user PhantomOcean3 notes that one can enable the feature with the Insights ID "38613007" using something like the ViVeTool.

How to enable new File Explorer in Build 25276:

Caution: Unannounced features are often raw, unstable, or borderline unusable. Back up important data before enabling them with the ViveTool app. Remember that using stable Windows 11 is the best way to ensure your system remains as bug-free as possible.

1. Download ViveTool from GitHub and unpack the files in a convenient and easy-to-find folder.
2. Press Win + X and select Terminal (Admin).
3. Switch Windows Terminal to the Command Prompt profile with the Ctrl + Shift + 2 shortcut or by clicking the arrow-down button at the top of the window.

    

   
4. Navigate to the folder containing the ViveTool files with the CD command. For example, if you have placed ViveTool in C:\Vive, type CD C:\Vive.
5. Type vivetool /enable /id:38613007 and press Enter.
6. (For PowerShell try: .\vivetool /enable /id:38613007)
7. Restart your computer.

Make sure to restore to the original state as the change is known to break File Explorer. To do so, repeat the steps above and replace /enable with /disable in the commands on steps 5 and 6.

New images suggest the upcoming Windows 11 File Explorer is a major redesign from Microsoft