The Windows Explorer window (also known as simply
the Explorer window) is a file management window that
gives you tools to navigate your computer drives, view
folders, view and launch documents, etc.
You have many options to launch Windows Explorer:
•Right click the button.
•Select Explore from the pop-up menu
Left click the Start button.
Right click the My Computer icon.
Select Explore from the pop-up menu.
Left click the Start button.
Left click All Programs.
Left click Accessories.
Left click Windows Explorer.
Windows Explorer
Exploring the Windows Explorer Window
1. Menu Bar - gives you access to all the
commands needed to work with
Windows Explorer.
2. Standard Toolbar - shortcuts to
navigate and set viewing options.
3. Address Bar - displays the path of the
selected drive, folder, or document.
4. Explorer Bar - displays your drives
and folders in hierarchical form. To
view the contents of a specific drive
(e.g. your F: drive) simply left click the
drive icon.
5. Contents Pane - displays the contents
(i.e. folders, programs, and documents)
of the drive/ folder selected in the
Explorer Bar.
Exploring the Windows Explorer Window
File Management
The Explorer window is a great place to
manage your files, move/copy files and folders,
and launch documents and programs.
Note: There are many ways to navigate to files
and folders. Over time, you will develop your
own navigation style.
Remember that the Explorer Bar is displayed
in a hierarchical form. When you left -click
once on a drive or folder name (e.g. F: drive)
or left-click on the plus (+) sign, the folder
expands to reveal the folders located within
that drive or folder. To collapse a folder, click
once on the minus (-) sign to the left of the
folder icon.
Exploring the Windows Explorer Window
By following the example to the right, we
see that:1.
The F: drive was clicked once to reveal its
contents (Expanded).
A folder called MYDOCS is located on the F:
drive.
The MYDOCS folder has been clicked once
to reveal its contents (e.g. the Computer
Academy folder is located within the
MYDOCS folder, which in turn is located on
the F: drive.
Note: Only folders and drives are listed in
the Explorer Bar! If you want to see the files
and documents saved in a folder, you must
look in the Contents Pane.
Exploring the Windows Explorer Window
Contents Pane
Unlike the Explorer Bar (which only displays drives
and folders) the Contents Pane displays ALL the
contents of the folder selected in the Address Bar:
Folders, programs, as well as files/documents.
By following the example to the right, we see that:
The MYDOCS folder has been selected in the
Address Bar.
Notice that the folders listed under MYDOCS in
the Explorer Bar are identical to the folders listed
in the Contents Pane.
The Contents Pane also displays the files located
in the MYDOCS folder (e.g. Excel, Access, Word
docs, etc.)
Exploring the Windows Explorer Window
Opening a File
To launch a file from the Contents Pane, double
click the file and it will launch in the appropriate
program.
Copying/Moving a File
To copy/move the Book1.xls Excel file from the
MYDOCS folder to the Excel Intro Class folder,
perform the following steps:
Right click, hold, and drag Book1.xls to the Excel
Intro Class folder. The folder should highlight in
blue.
Let go of the right mouse button. A pop-up menu will
appear with options to Move or Copy the File.
If you Move the file, Book1.xls will be moved and
exist only in the Excel Intro Class folder and no
longer exist in the MYDOCS folder. If you Copy the
file, you will have an identical copy in both the
MYDOCS folder and the Excel Intro Class folder.
Note: Select Cancel if you want to abort the copy/move.
Exploring the Windows Explorer Window
Creating a New Folder
To create a new folder, follow these steps:
In the Explorer Bar, select the folder within which
you want the new folder to reside. In the example
to the right, the New Folder will be created in the
MYDOCS folder.
Left-click File in the upper-left corner of the
Explorer window.
Click on New.
Click on Folder. A new folder named "New
Folder", will appear in the Contents Pane (the right
pane) of the Explorer window. The name should
be highlighted in blue with the cursor blinking at
the end of the name.
To rename the folder, simply type the new name.
Or, if the folder does not rename, right click on the
"New Folder" icon and select Rename. When the
folder name highlights in blue… type, in the new
name.
Searching for Files and Folders
Open the Explorer window by one of the methods
listed above.
Click the Search button in the Standard Toolbar.
The window will look like the picture to the right.
In the left pane click the option you want to search
for. Typically the best choice will be All files
and folders.
You then have the option to:
a) enter all or part of the file name; or,
b) b) enter a word or phrase within the file.
Note: the smaller the amount of information you enter the
more files the system will find.
Next, change the contents of the Look in field to the
drive the file is located. Note: If you select My
Computer, it will search all drives on your computer.
This search will take longer, but is a good option when
you can't remember where you saved your file.
Left click Search. As files are found that match your
search criteria, they are listed in the Contents
Pane (the right pane).
To switch back to Explorer mode, click the Folders
button in the standard toolbar. The search
wizard will go away, but your search results will
be available until you click onto a different drive
