There are many things that people dislike about Windows 11"s File Explorer these days. From abysmal performance (Microsoft actually considers auto-starting it to "fix" slow performance) to annoying bugs like flashbangs when creating new tabs. Sadly, File Explorer is no longer snappy, and Microsoft is about to add insult to injury by injecting more AI into it.
Users discovered that recent Windows 11 preview builds have a seemingly random invisible button placed next to the Details pane button in the top-right corner of the screen. It does not do much at this point, but the word on the street is that the button will serve as a Copilot shortcut. Pressing it will show a dedicated Copilot pane, allowing you to chat with Microsoft"s AI about files and other stuff. Microsoft has not confirmed anything at this point, so take this information with reasonable skepticism.
It is also too early to judge Microsoft"s attempts to inject more AI into File Explorer. The exact experience and features remain unknown, but judging from what Microsoft has done to Windows 11 so far, it is easy to be worried. Windows 11 has plenty of odd and frankly lazy stuff, such as prompts to open images or videos in Notepad or WebView calendars in the notification center, only to show your Outlook events. Bloated context menus also remain a problem, so you would be excused for being skeptical about Copilot coming to File Explorer. It is already slow enough, and bolting a Copilot wrapper to it is unlikely to make things any better.
If you are tired of what is going on with File Explorer, there are plenty of interesting alternatives to try. They will not make you completely File Explorer-free (that is, sadly, not possible), but they can minimize your exposure. You can try Files, which looks at home on Windows 11, or File Pilot, an insanely fast, optimized, and efficient file manager.