How to Restore Old File Explorer in Windows 11

In this tutorial, I’ll show you how to restore the old file explorer from Windows 10 in Windows 11. There are two ways to do this.

Reg edit location: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Shell Extensions

String name: {e2bf9676-5f8f-435c-97eb-11607a5bedf7}

https://winaero.com/winaero-tweaker/#download

https://softtechtutorials.com/windows-11/how-to-restore-old-file-explorer-in-windows-11/

0:00 Restore Old File Explorer in Windows 11 Intro 0:29 Restore Old File Explorer – Registry Editor 2:00 Winaero Tweaker

The first method is to create a new key in the registry editor.

The second method is to install Winaero tweaker, which is a free third-party application that allows you to easily bring back the old file explorer. This method is fast and easy, but it does require you to download and install an additional application.

Restore Old File Explorer in Windows 11 – Registry Editor

To restore the old file explorer with the first method, click on the Windows search icon and type in Registry Editor. Right-click on it and select Run as administrator.

Next, you need to navigate to the following location: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Shell Extensions

Right-click on Shell Extensions, select new, followed by clicking on Key. Name the key Blocked. Select the new key.

In the right window pane, right-click on an open space. Select new followed by clicking on String Value. Enter the string name: {e2bf9676-5f8f-435c-97eb-11607a5bedf7}

After that, we need to reboot the PC or restart Windows explorer for the changes to take place. To restart Windows Explorer, click on the Windows 11 icon and select Task Manager.

Search for Windows Explorer. Select it, and click on the restart button.

After doing this, you should have the old file explorer ribbon from Windows 10. If you want to change it back to the new file explorer. Simply delete the Blocked key in the registry editor and restart File Explorer once more.

Winaero Tweaker Method

In the second method, we use Winaero Tweaker to restore the old file explorer in Windows 11. You can get the Winaero download link from the description:

https://winaero.com/winaero-tweaker/#download

Click on the Download Winaero Tweaker button. When the download is complete, you can open the Winaero zip file. Double click on setup.exe. to start the installation wizard.

You can install the app in normal mode or portable mode. Both options are fine. Click on next to continue. After that, you need to accept the license agreement.

Select browse if you want to change the installation folder. Click on Extract files when you are done. Doing this completes the installation. Next, you need to open Winaero.

On the left side, you can see the different types of tweaks that ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2o4jhfXd9QE