Windows 11’s File Explorer tabs weren’t to everyone’s liking. This feature was the highlight of ‘Moments 1’, a feature update applied to Windows 11 22H2. After installing it, many users found out their realization was not what they expected, with bugs and without all the promised features. If this is your case, you can easily remove them using the tutorial we suggest.

Note that browser tabs allow users to multitask and move between different browser directories without having to activate duplicate instances of the same application. It’s been a standard feature in Mac Finder and Linux managers for years, and most third-party browsers include it.

In Windows, its arrival was claimed by users and it was one of the most requested features in Microsoft Feedback Center. Microsoft tested them on Windows 10 test builds in 2017, but soon removed them. With the release of Windows 11, its development was announced and it recently arrived for Windows 11 22H2.

How to disable Windows 11 File Explorer tabs

Reality trumped fiction and its implementation was not as rounded as we might have hoped. If you don’t want to deal with its shortcomings, they can be removed until Microsoft improves them. Before making any changes, make a backup to be safe.

Windows 11 does not have a dedicated settings section for managing tabs and related features. Therefore, card deactivation requires the use of third-party tools. If you’ve been following us, you should know about this because we’ve already used it to enable hidden and experimental features in Windows 11 preview builds. It is an application that works with the command line, but don’t worry because it’s very simple. Step by step:

1. Download ViveTool from GitHub and extract the files to the storage drive.
2. Press Win + X and select Terminal (Admin).
3. Switch Terminal to the command line profile by pressing Ctrl + Shift + 2 or clicking the down arrow button at the top of the window.
4. Navigate to the folder containing the extracted files using the CD command. For example, if you extracted ViveTool to C:\Vive, enter CD C:\Vive.
5. Type vivetool /disable /id:37634385 and press enter.
6. Type vivetool /disable /id:36354489 and press enter.

If at any time you change your mind and want to restore Tabbed File Explorer, repeat the steps above, replacing /disable /enable on the command line in steps 5 and 6.