Windows enthusiasts rejoiced — or at least were pleasantly surprised — by the news that Microsoft appears to have plans to bring tabs to the File Explorer. Insiders discovered hidden functionality for the File Explorer in the latest preview build of the OS. In their current state, tabs look nice but only support basic features. That's to be expected since Microsoft hasn't officially announced them. While not fully functional, it appears that tabs will make their way to Windows 11 at some point in the near future.
People have requested tabs in the File Explorer for a long time, and we actually almost got it a few years ago. Back in 2017 and 2018, Microsoft worked on a feature called Sets. Rather than just adding tabs to the File Explorer, Sets added tabs to any app on Windows. It integrated with Edge and was designed to place apps, web apps, and other types of programs side-by-side. While Sets wasn't made exclusively for the File Explorer, it could be used to have a tabbed interface for managing files.
Sets was in working state in Windows 10 Build 17618, but it was ultimately canceled. Microsoft never shared its reasoning for dropping support for the feature. With the death of Sets, Microsoft also killed off tabs within the File Explorer, much to the chagrin of Windows enthusiasts. It doesn't seem like Microsoft will bring back Sets, but the company does appear to have plans for bringing tabs back to the File Explorer.
Our question is if Microsoft has taken things far enough when it comes to tabs. Are you content with the company only adding tabs to the File Explorer, or would you like to see Sets return? Perhaps you don't like tabs at all. Whatever your opinion may be, we'd love to hear from you through this week's poll and in the comments below.
