The Windows 11 file explorer tabs have not been liked by everyone. The feature was the highlight of ‘Moments 1’, the feature update applied to Windows 11 22H2. After its installation, many users found that their implementation was not what they expected, with bugs and without all the promised features. If this is your case, you can easily remove them with the tutorial that we propose.
Remember that browser tabs allow users to multitask and move between different browser directories without the need to activate duplicate instances of the same application. It’s been a standard feature in the Mac Finder and Linux managers for years, and the best third-party browsers include it.
In Windows, users have been claiming its arrival and it was one of the most requested functions in the Microsoft Feedback Hub. Microsoft tested them on test builds of Windows 10 in 2017, but soon removed it. With the release of Windows 11 its development was announced and it recently arrived for Windows 11 22H2.
How to disable Windows 11 file explorer tabs
Reality has surpassed fiction and its implementation has not been as round as we could hope. If you don’t want to deal with its shortcomings, they can be removed until Microsoft improves them. Before any change, make a backup just in case.
Windows 11 does not have a dedicated settings section to manage tabs and related features. Therefore, disabling tabs requires using third-party tools. If you’re following us, you should know about it because we’ve already used it to enable hidden and experimental features in preview builds of Windows 11. It is an application that works with the command line, but do not be scared because it is very simple. Step by Step:
- Download ViveTool from GitHub and unzip the files to your storage drive.
- Press Win + X and select Terminal (Admin).
- Switch Terminal to the Command Prompt profile by pressing Ctrl + Shift + 2 or clicking the down arrow button at the top of the window.
- Navigate to the folder containing the extracted files using the CD command. For example, if you have extracted ViveTool to C:\Vive, type CD C:\Vive.
- Type vivetool /disable /id:37634385 and press enter.
- Type vivetool /disable /id:36354489 and press enter.
If at any point you change your mind and want to restore Tabbed File Explorer, repeat the steps above, replacing /disable with /enable on the command line in steps 5 and 6.
