You won't lose these Windows 11 File Explorer features after all

You don't have to say good-bye to legacy File Explorer features after all.

What you need to know

• Microsoft just released Windows 11 Build 23486 to Insiders in the Dev Channel.
• The update adds support for signing in with passkeys on apps and websites using the native Windows Hello experience.
• Microsoft also backtracked on its previous plans to remove select legacy File Explorer features.

Microsoft just released Windows 11 Build 23486 to Insiders in the Dev Channel. The update includes several improvements to the passwordless experience on Windows 11, such as being able to log in to websites with passkeys through Windows Hello.

But perhaps more important than what Microsoft added in the build is what the update's change log specifies is no longer being taken away. Microsoft will no longer remove a group of legacy File Explorer features that it previously said were on the way out.

"Thank you to all the Windows Insiders who gave us feedback on the Folder Options changes in File Explorer that removed a handful of old settings in Build 23481. We’ve rolled back this change. As is normal for the Dev Channel, we will often try things out and get feedback and adjust based on the feedback we receive," said Microsoft.

As noted by the company, the Dev Channel is a place to experiment with new ideas and feature sets. When Microsoft announced its plans to remove select legacy File Explorer features, I noted that the company could change its mind.

Microsoft was going to remove the following features, but will now leave them in:

• Hide Folder Merge conflict.
• Always show icons, never thumbnails.
• Display file icon on thumbnails.
• Display file type information on Folder tips.
• Hide protected OS files.
• Show drive letters.
• Show popup description for Folder and Desktop items.
• Show encrypted or compressed NTFS files in colour.
• Use sharing wizard.

Moving back to what's new; here's Microsoft's summary of the improvements to passkeys. The Windows Blog post goes into depth on how to set up these features:

Enroll and use passkey to sign into apps and websites: We are improving the passkey experience for Windows users. They can now go to any app or website that supports passkeys to create and sign in using passkeys with the Windows Hello native experience. Once a passkey is created, users can use Windows Hello (face, fingerprint, PIN) to sign in. In addition, users can use their phone to complete the application logon process.

Manage passkeys saved to your Windows device: We are giving users a fundamental control over how they can manage the passkeys saved to their Windows device. They can now view and delete passkeys saved for their favorite apps/websites from Windows settings.

Windows 11 Build 23486: Changes and Improvements

File Explorer

• Thank you to all the Windows Insiders who gave us feedback on the Folder Options changes in File Explorer that removed a handful of old settings in Build 23481. We’ve rolled back this change. As is normal for the Dev Channel, we will often try things out and get feedback and adjust based on the feedback we receive.

Dynamic Lighting

• New Effects are now available for Dynamic Lighting via Settings > Personalization > Dynamic Lighting. Check out Wave, Wheel, and Gradient.

Emoji

• Unicode Emoji 15, which began rolling out with Build 23475, is now available to all Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel.

Settings

• We are improving the user experience when changing time zones, including cases of low confidence in location data. It displays a non-dismissible notification for accepting or rejecting the change and prompts the user for confirmation before adjusting the time zone.
• We are also improving the user experience while changing the time zone via Settings > Time & language > Date & time. If location settings are disabled, a warning is now shown to the user, urging them to enable location settings to ensure accurate time zone adjustments. This warning provides helpful information to the user, helping them understand why their time zone may not be correct and guiding them towards resolving the issue.

Source