ExplorerPatcher is a versatile and free tool that allows you to tweak and enhance the Windows Explorer. It comes with a range of useful features, including the ability to add new context menu items, change file name colors, and enable hidden features.
Feature summary
- Choose between Windows 11 or Windows 10 taskbar (with labels support, small icons and lots of customization).
- Disable Windows 11 context menu and command bar in File Explorer and more.
- Open Start to All apps by default, choose number of frequent apps to show, display on active monitor and more.
- Choose between the Windows 11, Windows 10 and Windows NT Alt-Tab window switcher with customization.
Lots of quality of life improvements for the shell, like:
- Skin tray menus to match Windows style, make them behave like flyouts and center them relative to the icon.
- Choose action when left and/or right clicking the network icon.
- Revert to the Windows 7 search box in File Explorer, or disable Windows Search altogether.
- Disable immersive menus and use mitigations that help you run the real classic theme without glitches.
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Discover the program"s full range of features by reading this wiki article.
ExplorerPatcher 22621.3007.63.2 changelog:
Tested on OS builds 22000.2538, 22621.1992, 22621.3007, 22621.3085, and 22621.3155.
- Fixed a bug where explorer.exe would crash repeatedly when the system is in OOBE. (36ebe5a)
- ExplorerPatcher now no longer loads if it detects that the system is in OOBE or in credential reset.
- Taskbar10: The Network and Battery flyouts on later 22621 builds onwards and Windows 10 now open instantly without issues. (97fd483)
- Taskbar10: Allowed the use of search box (without highlights) on Windows 11. (0157ecc)
- The behavior when the Start or Search menu is open is currently not the same as Windows 10, and we have no plans to fix this yet. Please do not make new Issues regarding this.
- Start10: Added proper handling when the Windows 10 start menu is not available (e.g. 24H2/Canary builds). (3c8809e)
- Start10: Removed the original method for fixing Jump List (right click) views. (79b0f68)
- File Explorer: The address bar shrinking is now more accurate with pixel-perfect height compared to Windows 7, 8.1, and 10 (without the modern search). (e0b97e2)
- GUI: Added "Uninstall" section containing a button to launch the uninstaller. (0c5021b)
- Setup: There should now be fewer .prev files, and uninstallation should be cleaner as well. (296c6a0)
- Symbols: Added explorer.exe symbols for 22621+ and unified the method for Windows 10 Alt+Tab on 22000. (1f2e2c4)
- Localization: Added translations for Lithuanian, Polish, Russian, and Turkish.
- Taskbar10: Improved animation performance when centering and/or EP Weather is not enabled, also fixed search box positioning on small taskbar without centering. (22d9e3c)
- Setup: Fixed a bug that placed wincorlib.dll on Windows 10 when it is not supposed to, causing the start menu to crash. (610ba7f)
Please consult the README for more details.
A detailed change log is available here.
Download: ExplorerPatcher 22621.3007.63.2 | 2.4 MB (Open Source)
View: ExplorerPatcher Home Page | Features