The file manager is one of the fundamental parts for any Windows 10 user, since it is the place where we can manage all the information that we have recorded on our computer. So it is very interesting to know all the ways we have at our disposal to access it.
Thanks to all the ways that we are going to show you, we will be able to have absolute control over how the file explorer is opened and we will be the ones who choose the way that we like the most and that suits our needs.
We will have very simple options and others that will be somewhat more complicated, but that are always useful to know in case some of the others do not work at any given time due to some type of error and it is totally necessary to enter to manage a file.
They are extremely varied and everyone can choose the one that is most comfortable and best suits what they are looking for.
What is File Explorer?
The File Explorer that we know today was called Windows Explorer until Windows 8 hit the market.
It is the official Microsoft file manager, which was included for the first time in Windows 95 and since then it has not been missing in any of the successive versions of the North American company’s operating system.
Thanks to this component, we can manage all files, folders, launch applications, hide items, etc.
It is an essential part in the proper functioning of Windows and without which we would not be able to perform many tasks that today we see as normal and simple as those we have listed in the previous paragraph.
We must be very clear about how to use it, but for that it is very convenient to have all the ways to execute it at our fingertips.
Let’s see what they are next.
Taskbar icon
The first of the ways to access this component is the simplest and the one that is closest to us. We will simply have to click on the icon that we have on the taskbar.
Pressing this icon will automatically jump to the window where we can manage all the files on the computer.
If it turns out that you look in the taskbar and the icon does not appear, don’t worry because putting it back there is very easy.
You will have to start it based on one of the ways that we show you in this article, click the right button of your mouse on the taskbar icon and then select ” Pin to taskbar “. That easy.
Using the keyboard
We have a trick to open it through the keyboard, using the Windows key (the one with the typical window drawing of the operating system).
We only have to press this key at the same time that we press the letter E , so that it will be opened automatically.
Windows Search
Surely you have noticed that at the bottom, almost to the left, next to the Windows start button there is a place where you can write, right where it says « Type here to search «.
Well, if we put « File Explorer «, we will see how the application on which we will have to click with our mouse appears at the top.
Once done we will be inside we can manage all those files we want.
Run application
We can use the Run application to enter it.
We just have to press the Windows and R keys simultaneously and a window will appear where we will write « File Explorer » and then click on «OK». We will immediately have the component on our screen.
Start Menu
Like any application that we have in Windows 10, we can also access it from the start menu very easily.
We will only click on the start button , we will scroll down through the applications until we find and enter ” Windows System “, to then click on ” File Explorer “.
Original application
Another option we have is to open it by directly executing the EXE file that is stored in Windows.
For this, we must go to the Windows folder of the unit where we have the operating system installed, search among the large number of files that we have ” Explorer.exe ” and once we find it, double-click on it.
Advanced user menu
We can also open it from the advanced user menu. To do this we must press the Windows and X keys at the same time.
Then a window will appear in the lower right part of the screen where we can click with the mouse on « File Explorer «.
Cortana
We can also use a Windows virtual assistant called Cortana to open the component that we have been talking about throughout this article.
Click on the Cortana icon that is the circle on the taskbar. Then we click on the microphone icon that appears on the right of the pop-up screen and we say « Open File Explorer «.
At that moment Cortana confirms that it is going to open it and we will automatically have it on our screen.
Command Prompt
We can access it from the Windows command prompt.
We must type ” cmd ” in the Windows search box and then select ” Command Prompt ” in the results it gives us.
In the tab that appears, we just have to write « explorer » and then press the Enter key . Once we have done it, the corresponding window will appear.
PowerShell
From PowerShell we can also run File Explorer. To do this we must write the word « PowerShell « in the search menu .
Once we see it on the screen, we just have to click on the result and a screen with a blue background will open.
In it we have to write « Explorer » and then press the Enter key so that the component appears and we can work with it.
As you have seen, we have a good number of ways to run Windows File Explorer. It is very useful to know all of them in case due to some kind of error we cannot execute the ones that we normally use.