File Explorer
Sign in to saveAlso known as Windows Explorer, explorer.exe, Explorer
file manager application that is included with releases of the Microsoft Windows operating system
Key facts
- Developer
- Microsoft Windows
- Initial release
- August 15, 1995 ; 30 years ago ( 1995-08-15 )
- Stable release
- 26H1 (10.0.28000.2179) (May 26, 2026 ; 9 days ago ( 2026-05-26 ) ) [ ± ] , 25H2 (10.0.26200.8524) (May 26, 2026 ; 9 days ago ( 2026-05-26 ) ) [ ± ]
- Included with
- Windows 95 and later
- Predecessor
- Program Manager , File Manager
- Type
- Shell , file manager
via Wikipedia infobox
~34 min read
Encyclopedic overview
File Explorer, previously known as Windows Explorer, is a file manager application and default desktop environment that is included with releases of the Microsoft Windows operating system from Windows 95 onwards. It provides a graphical user interface for accessing the file systems, as well as user interface elements such as the taskbar and desktop.
The application was renamed from "Windows Explorer" to "File Explorer" in Windows 8; however, the old name of "Windows Explorer" can still be seen in the Windows Task Manager.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “File Explorer” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.