How to Disable File Explorer Tabs in Windows 11

With Windows 11, Microsoft introduced tabbed File Explorer. While this was a welcome addition for some, others prefer the ancient way of having multiple windows of File Explorers.

Unfortunately, there is no built-in toggle to switch back to the old way; however, there are solutions that involve third-party apps.

ViveTool is one such third-party app that allows you to disable the tabbed File Explorer and revert to how it has been for years. All you need to do is download and install the tool and run some commands and that’s it, you will be done well before you know it.

Use ViveTool and Command Prompt to Disable File Explorer Tabs

First, head to ViveTool’s GitHub page using your preferred browser and click on the .ZIP file to initiate the download.

Once downloaded, right-click on the ZIP file and click on the ‘Extract All’ option from the menu. This will open a separate window.

Next, click on the ‘Extract’ option.

Once the contents have been extracted, right-click on the folder and choose the ‘Copy as path’ option.

After that, head to the Start Menu and type Terminal. Then, from the search results, right-click on the ‘Terminal’ tile and select the ‘Run as administrator’ option.

Now, a UAC (User Account Control) window will appear on your screen. If you are not logged in with an admin account, enter the credentials for one. Otherwise, click on the ‘Yes’ button.

After that, click on the chevron (downward arrow) and click on the ‘Command Prompt’ option to proceed.

Now, type or copy+paste the below-mentioned command and hit Enter to execute.

cd "<copied path>"

Note: Replace the <copied path> placeholder with the actual path you had copied earlier in this section.

After that, type or copy+paste the below-mentioned commands one by one and execute them.

vivetool /disable /id:37634385

vivetool /disable /id:36354489

Once executed successfully, restart your PC and check if the tabbed File Explorer has been disabled or not.

Use ViveTool GUI Version to Disable Tabbed File Explorer

In case you are not too comfortable using the Command Prompt, you can also use the GUI version of the ViveTool.

To perform the action using ViveTool GUI, head to its GitHub page, and click on the .ZIP file to initiate the download.

Once downloaded, head to the downloads directory and right-click on the downloaded ZIP file. Then, select the ‘Extract all’ option.

Next, click on the ‘Extract’ button.

Once extracted, open the folder and right-click on the ViveTool_GUI.exe file. Next, click on the ‘Run as administrator’ option.

Now, a UAC (User Account Control) window will appear on your screen. If you are not logged in with an admin account, enter the credentials for one. Otherwise, click on the ‘Yes’ button.

Once the tool is launched, first, select your OS build from the dropdown menu. This will populate the list of all available features.

Afterward, enter the below-mentioned code in the search bar. Next, select the feature and click on the ‘Perform Action’ button. Finally, click on the ‘Disable Feature’ toggle.