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 26100.8457.70.2 changelog:
Tested on OS builds 22621.4317, 22631.7079, 26100.6899, 26100.8037, 26200.8246, 26200.8457, 26300.8493, and 28000.2113.
TIP: Windows Defender no longer flags ExplorerPatcher. It is no longer needed to configure Defender exclusions. Enjoy!
Important
- Fixed Windows 10 taskbar and Start menu crashes on builds 26220.8474 (Beta) and 26300.8493 (Experimental).
- Update ExplorerPatcher as soon as possible. Without this update, Explorer and the Windows 10 Start menu may stop working on future builds.
- Microsoft removed Windows 10 Start menu components from StartTileData.dll on these builds, so the Windows 10 Start menu option has been removed where it is no longer supported.
- Temporary workaround: replace C:\Windows\System32\StartTileData.dll with the version from build 26xxx.8457 (x64/ARM64). This may stop working in future builds.
- Work is ongoing to restore Windows 10 Start menu support.
Highlights
- Fixed Windows 10 battery flyout crashes on build 25951+.
- Network flyout buttons reverted to pre-24H2 behavior as a side effect.
- Taskbar location changes now apply instantly.
- Windows 11 taskbar auto-hide is no longer modified when Explorer starts.
- "Open Start in All apps by default" is now hidden when using the new Windows 11 Start menu.
- Fixed Windows 10 Start menu crashes on builds 21996–22000.51.
- Fixed Regedit crashes when switching to thumbnail view in registry import/export dialogs.
- Improved compatibility with recent Windows builds, including 26H1 ARM64.
- Improved ARM64 performance.
- Added Greek translations.
ep_taskbar
- Now supports all 43 Windows 11 languages.
- Fixed issues in the system tray and other components.
- Updated DLL naming scheme for mod developers.
- Improved TrayUI compatibility and vtable stability on builds with multiple ITrayUI revisions.
- Fixed a taskbar initialization deadlock.
Windows 10 Start Menu
- Added a new tile layout engine to restore support removed in build 26xxx.8474.
- Restoration is currently partial:
- Tiles may overlap when pinned using "Pin to Start".
- Restarting StartMenuExperienceHost.exe or explorer.exe fixes the layout.
- Further improvements are planned.
Other Changes
- Added an executable blacklist to prevent shell extensions from loading in selected applications.
- Updated Windows 10 Start menu animation support for ARM64 builds 28xxx.2149+.
Please consult the README for more details.
Download: ExplorerPatcher 26100.8457.70.2 | ARM64 | ~11.0 MB (Open Source)
View: ExplorerPatcher Home Page | Features | Screenshot
