Ever had cases when you had to move files from one folder to another in Windows Explorer and you had to always switch between windows? You could make your life easier with a feature called tabbed browsing. This feature is the same as the one found in Web Browsers like Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, Chrome, etc, which helps alot when dealing with multiple windows and helps you keep it organised. In the latest versions of Windows like Vista and 7, new features were implemented to Explorer to make browsing easier and faster for us. The tabbed browsing feature does not come by default with Windows, but can be achieved by using a free software called QTTabBar. This program implements some usefull feature that can improve your browsing experience alot.
First, you need to install QTTabBar, and doing this is easy and straight forward. Altough, at the end of the installation process, you will have a check box that says “Close all Explorer windows and reopen them as tabs.“. If you leave that boxed checked, your tabbed browsing will be available right away after a quick restart of your Windows Explorer.
By default, the lastest version of this software enables itself, so you don’t have to worry how to make it appear. By default, the program has some visual functions enabled like the Tabs bar and buttons bar.
These functions can be enabled or disabled, this way you can customize it the way you want. This can be found at View -> Toolbars. From here you can enable or disable the visual representation of tabs.
Now that you have the setup that you want, let’s find out how to take advantage of the tabbed browsing and other features that QT TabBar has. There are several ways to open a new tab.
First method is just to simply drag and drop a folder onto the tab bar.
Other method of opening a folder in a new tab is to simply select the folder you want to open, hold down Shift and Double Click it. It will show up as a new tab.
By Right Clicking on a tab, you will be able to clone it, copy its path, label it and more.
Shuffling between tabs is made by using the shortcut Ctrl+Tab which brings up a small window that lets you select the tab you want to switch to.
Having your mouse over a folder, drive, library will bring up an down arrow which enables you to quick browse inside that folder using drop-down menus. If you hover over items like photoes, movies, etc, you will be able to see a preview of the file and other details.
Also, if you click on the tab icon you can access the same drop-down menu, which is very helpful.
To access many more options to set up the way the tabbed browsing works, right click on a empty space near the tabs, and go to Options.
In the QTtabBar Options window you will find many options that let you configure the software to your needs.
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