The Files app is an excellent alternative for those unhappy with somewhat lackluster upgrades for Windows 11"s stock File Explorer. The program comes with features you may find lacking in File Explorer and gets frequent updates with new capabilities and improvements. The latest preview update has added a neat widget on the home page, allowing you to access tagged files much more quickly.
You can enable the tags widget in Files Preview version 2.4.26.0. Go to Files" Settings > Preferences > Widgets and toggle on the Tags option. Return to the Home page, and you will see a new section with all the tagged files and folders (right-click a file or folder and select Edit Tags to assign a tag). You can customize tags in the Advanced > Experimental feature flags section.
The Files app should get the new tags widget in the stable release in a couple of weeks. According to recent reports, Microsoft is also working on a tagging system for the stock File Explorer as a part of an extensive rejuvenation. That feature upgrade has yet to materialize and go through the Windows Insiders program, so users can get the features they want in the Files app right now.
The Files app is available on the official website for free. If you want to support the developer so that they keep releasing frequent updates, purchase Files in the Microsoft Store for $8.99. Those wishing to test preview updates for the Files app can download the pre-release version from the official website (it can run side-by-side with the stable release without issues).
If you want to learn about other must-have apps for Windows 11 and 10, check out our recent "Top 11 apps every Windows 11 user should have" article.