FINALLY! Command Line Info For Windows Explorer

I was going to put up a bleg about this but I found the answer myself and thought I’d share it with others.

For those of y’all using Windows XP (that’s probably most of you), I recently found out how to correct an annoying feature of the OS that I first ran across when I switched to XP.

I use Windows Explorer (NOT Internet Explorer) a lot to find files on my hard drive, but I’ve been annoyed with the fact that whenever I open it in XP it wouldn’t show me a hierarchy of folders in the left hand column but instead would show me a bunch of options for what I might do with files (like make a new folder, upload a file to the web, share a folder, etc.). This was VERY annoying as I had to click the "Folders" icon at the top to get the nested folder hierarchy so I could navigate it.

I figured there was a command line switch that I could set to correct this, but I never knew what it was.

Now I do.

To fix the problem, all you have to do is:

  1. Right click on the icon you use to bring up Windows Explorer (I use one that I put in my Quick Launch bar at the bottom of my screen).
  2. Select "Properties."
  3. Select "Shortcut" (if it isn’t already selected).
  4. Go into the field marked "Target:" and scroll to the end of it.
  5. At the end type " /e" (that’s SPACE-SLASH-little e).
  6. Close it all up and you’re done.

This way Windows Explorer will open with something USEFUL (the left nav folder hierarchy) instead of all those stupid "File and Folder Tasks" that you never use.

MORE THINGS YOU CAN DO WITH COMMAND-LINE SWITCHES FOR WINDOWS EXPLORER.

Be sure to note that you can also use a "/root" switch to set it to open a particular favorite location of yours (e.g., "My Documents").

Author: Jimmy Akin

Jimmy was born in Texas, grew up nominally Protestant, but at age 20 experienced a profound conversion to Christ. Planning on becoming a Protestant seminary professor, he started an intensive study of the Bible. But the more he immersed himself in Scripture the more he found to support the Catholic faith, and in 1992 he entered the Catholic Church. His conversion story, "A Triumph and a Tragedy," is published in Surprised by Truth. Besides being an author, Jimmy is the Senior Apologist at Catholic Answers, a contributing editor to Catholic Answers Magazine, and a weekly guest on "Catholic Answers Live."

4 thoughts on “FINALLY! Command Line Info For Windows Explorer”

  1. I stopped using Windows Explorer almost immediatedly after Win 95 came out considering some of the very problems you mentioned.
    I use to use dual pane programs like Norton Commander in the DOS days and there are some very good similar programs for Windows.
    Personally I use Servant Salmander which I have used for a very long time from it’s freeware days to now being shareware. It is heavily shortcut-ed to make all operations rapidly available and has great features like favorites for folders which can also be attached to keyboard shortcuts to easily change from one commonly used directory to another. It also has built in media viewers to view text, Microsoft Documents, graphics etc. It als treats compressed files like zip as folders where they can be treated just subdirectories. The program is packed with features that make file handling a breeze and can also do things like comparing two directories for differences useful for backup.
    There is another program called Free Commander which is similar and has a fairly rich feature set.
    http://www.freecommander.com/index_en.htm
    I prefere Servant Salamander, but the above is a good free alternative.

  2. For those of us who are keyboard diehards, the Window’s logo key on the keyboard + the E key at the same time will bring up an Explorer window at the My Computer root with the folder listing column on the left open by default.
    Or, try the Window’s Logo key plus the R key to bring up run, then type, Explorer
    This should bring up a new Explorer window with the folder list column rooted at My Documents.
    If you have Inline Autocomplete enabled (IE – tools – options – advanced – about half way down) anything you type into run such as the above, or IExplore (for IE), will come up as you type.
    I find the Windows key and R is a lot quicker to get what I want happening than with a mouse.
    .02 😀
    Pax,
    John

  3. You can also get rid of the Task Pane by going to Folder Options (either from the Control Panel or from the Tools menu of a folder window). The first choice on the first tab (the General tab) lets you choose either “Show common tasks in folders” or “Use Windows classic folders.” If you prefer also to see a folder tree on the left, you can then either click the Folder button on the folder’s toolbar or chose View > Explorer Bar > Folders. To make this apply to all folders, go to Folder Options again, choose the View tab, then click the “Apply to All Folders button.”

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