Microsoft Testing Windows Explorer Tabs Just Like Windows 95 in The Past

As of this fall, Windows 11 has a feature that was and is quite obvious, namely tabs in File Explorer. These make the handling of multiple windows easier or better eliminate them. The idea is of course not new, but it is even older than originally thought.

Tab Debut Fall Update for Windows 11

For a few weeks now, users have finally been able to use tabs in Windows 11 Explorer. This is optional, of course, but undoubtedly useful for many. Because you can use a single window to manage multiple folders and move files in this way. If you want, you can of course continue to work with several windows.

As mentioned, the idea is not new, as it is of course obvious. Most third-party file managers have long offered tabs, and to this day it’s not entirely clear why Microsoft took so long. On the release of the Windows 11 feature this fall, Paul A. Gusmorino III wrote that he “first wrote a specification for adding tabs to File Explorer almost 20 years ago.”

That may be true, but the Microsoft developer is not entirely right either. Because in a new video from Windows on Windows PC Gamer reported, you can see that the idea is even older, and significantly so. Because tabs were not considered for the first time in or for Windows XP, but already for Windows 95.

The Windows on Windows video shows that this wasn’t just a consideration, there was an early development build that had tabs in Windows Explorer at the time. And this version is from 1993, so the first attempts weren’t almost 20, but almost 30 years ago. According to Windows on Windows, the functionality was limited at the time, as expected, because the tabs served more as quick links to recent folders.