Enabling Tabbed File Explorer in Windows 11 Previews

This week's Windows 11 Insider Preview is build 22572, and despite the fact that it was released just yesterday, it didn't take long for someone to notice a hidden but much-requested feature. Tabs are now supported in File Explorer.

Of course, it isn't enabled by default, which means it isn't yet ready to use. You may, however, enable it yourself, as you do with many other capabilities hidden beneath the hood of Windows.

Before we begin, we should go over something very crucial. For a variety of reasons, you should not do this. For one thing, allowing features that aren't supposed to be enabled constantly jeopardises your system's stability. It is critical that you understand what you are getting into in this regard. Of course, if you're on the Dev channel, you shouldn't be on your main machine in the first place.

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On the other hand, Microsoft is expected to shed some light on this in next week's Windows 11 Insider Preview. Of course, there's always the possibility that it will never see the light of day. Finally, Microsoft does not want you to do this since it interferes with telemetry.

Alright, still with us? Let’s start.

Prerequisites for Tabbed File Explorer:

A Windows 11 PC running build 22572

How to Get the Latest Preview of Windows 11

To get started, you’ll need to join the Windows Insider Program. Note that this is another thing you sacrifice system stability for. You shouldn’t do this on your main computer.

1. In Windows 11, go to Settings -> Windows Update -> Windows Insider Program.
2. Click the Get Started button and follow the instructions to register for the Dev Channel.
3. Reboot when prompted.
4. Go to Settings -> Windows Update -> Check for updates.
5. After installing the release, reboot when prompted.

Enabling Tabbed File Explorer

Enabling hidden features like tabbed file explorer is actually very simple. It takes much less time than installing the necessary Windows 11 version.

1.Download the latest version of ViveTool from GitHub here.

2.Extract the ZIP file, preferably somewhere with an easy-to-enter file path.

3.Open the command prompt in administrator mode. You can do this by holding down the Shift key while right-clicking on it.

4.Navigate to the folder where ViveTool is located. For example, you can use the command cd\vivetool-v0.2.1 if it’s stored in the same place as mine.

5.Enter the command ‘vivetool addconfig 34370472 2’. 34370472 is the function number, while the number 2 indicates that you want to activate it. You can run the same command with the number 1 to turn it off.

6.Using Windows 11 Previews to Enable Tabbed File Explorer

Build 22572 is this week's Windows 11 Insider Preview, and despite the fact that it was only released yesterday, it didn't take long for someone to find a hidden but much-requested feature. In File Explorer, tabs are now supported.

Of course, it isn't enabled by default, so it isn't yet ready for usage. You may, however, enable it yourself, as you do with many other features hidden beneath Windows' hood.

Before we begin, let's go over something really important. You should not do this for a multitude of reasons. For one thing, permitting features that aren't supposed to be enabled regularly jeopardises the stability of your system. In this regard, it is vital that you understand what you are getting into. Of course, you shouldn't be on your main machine in the first place if you're on the Dev channel.