Files 3.1 is out with smart archives, better drag and drop, tray icon and more

Files, a popular third-party File Explorer alternative, has received a new feature update. Version 3.1 is now rolling out to all users via the Microsoft Store, bringing a few improvements and new features. The update is not as big as the recently released version 3.0, but it still packs a few notable and user-requested changes.

What is new in Files 3.1

System Tray Icon. The Files app now has a tray icon indicating it is running in the background. In addition, the icon works as a shortcut to the documentation and the option to exit the app.
Open Minimized. Version 3.1 lets you launch the Files app on startup in a minimized state. To do so, toggle on "Open Files on Windows Startup" and "Keep Files running in the background."
Smart archive extract. The app can now automatically pick the best mode for extracting your archives. Files will unpack an archive with a single file into the current folder. Archives with multiple objects inside will be extracted into a new folder. You can use Smart Extract with the Ctrl + Shift + E shortcut or from the context menu.
Improved sorting. You can now set the app to prioritize files on top of folders when sorting items.
Drag and drop to open in a new tab. Files 3.1 lets you drag a folder on the title bar (tab strip) to open it in a new tab. You can even drag multiple folders to open each in a separate tab.

Here is the rest of the changelog:

Added a prompt when trying to apply tags on non NTFS drives

Improved the animation when expanding/collapsing sidebar sections

Increased the number of suggestion in the search dropdown to 10 items

Opening libraries in the columns view will treat them as root

Added a 2gb splitting option when compressing files

Added support for displaying recently entered paths

Added an option to group items by day

Added support for hiding compression options from the context menu

Added an out-of-proc WinRT server for long-running background tasks

Fixed an issue where third party licenses weren’t displayed

Fixed crash that could occur when manipulating invalid images

Fixed issue where options in the conflicts dialog would sometimes change when scrolling

Fixed crash that could occur when failing to connect to GitHub

Fixed the date in the file name when pasting clipboard content

Fixed an issue where the selection would sometimes get reset in the rename text box

Fixed an issue where resizing the window would reload the preview pane

Fixed crash when navigating up in the column layout

Fixed issue where “Reopen closed tab” was always disabled when right-clicking on tabs

Fixed crash that could occur when trying to open Git settings

Fixed issue where text was cut off in Tags flyout

Fixed issue where the column headers weren’t always “sticky”

Fixed issue where it wouldn’t work to open Files if a previous instance crashed

Fixed exception that would sometimes occur when sharing items

Fixed NullReferenceException when renaming files

Fixed NullReferenceException in ColumnShellPage.NavigateToPath

Fixed issue where batch files were opened as system

Fixed the taskbar behavior in full screen mode

Fixed COMException when removing focus from the path bar