File Explorer settings in ExplorerPatcher

What the section looks like

Our photographs are from Windows 11 25H2 on Arm64 (build 26200.9725) running ExplorerPatcher 26100.9711.71.1. The section looked the same with the Windows 10 (ExplorerPatcher) taskbar and with the Windows 11 taskbar, and the same on Windows Server 2025 (24H2 shell).

The left picture is with ExplorerPatcher’s taskbar, the right one with the Windows 11 taskbar: the same twelve options. All of them were in their default state when we took the pictures.

The text at the top of the window explains the stars. Options marked * need File Explorer restarted. Options marked ** only reach Open and Save dialogs if you tick “Register as shell extension”. The line “The following settings take effect on newly created File Explorer windows” divides the list: everything below it applies the next time you open a window, so you do not need to log off.

Overview

All File Explorer settings

Two switches our data does not list

Our settings data was parsed from upstream’s settings file and misses two switches that the window does show, because they are stored differently. Under File Explorer, Disable navigation bar (marked **) appears in both of our screenshots. In the Advanced section, Enable SysListView32 for Explorer views does the same (see Advanced settings). According to upstream’s settings file, each of them is stored as a registry key under HKCU\Software\Classes\CLSID\...\InprocServer32 with an empty default value, not as a value in the ExplorerPatcher key, and switching them off removes the key. For the navigation bar the CLSID is {056440FD-8568-48e7-A632-72157243B55B}. We have not tested either switch.

What to change first

1. Classic context menu. If your only goal is the old right-click menu, start with “Disable the Windows 11 context menu”. It is the smallest change in this section.

2. Control Interface. Pick the Windows 10 Ribbon or the Windows 7 Command Bar, then restart File Explorer. This changes the whole toolbar, so look at it before you stack other options on top. Both worked on Server 2025 and on the 25H2 Arm64 client, which is what the two pictures show.

3. Search bar. “Disable modern search bar” is meant to swap in the older box and “Hide search bar completely” to remove it, which gives the address bar the full width. We set both in the registry and photographed File Explorer. With the Windows 11 command bar neither changed the window on Server 2025 or on the Arm64 client: the search box stayed. “Disable modern search bar” is stored as a COM redirection, which we set the same way the Properties window does, and it showed no visible change with the command bar or the Ribbon. With the Ribbon, “Hide search bar completely” removed the search box in one Server 2025 run and in our Arm64 picture, and did not remove it in a Server 2025 re-run, so it is inconsistent. Treat all of this as not confirmed: we did not click the switches in the Properties window, and the ribbon page has the photos.

Combinations and traps

Mica only goes with the Windows 7 command bar. “Apply Mica effect to the navigation bar of Windows 7 Explorer windows” is described for the Windows 7 style only. We saw the Mica look when we combined it with the Windows 7 command bar, and we did not try it with the other styles.

Drive grouping showed no change. With “Use classic drive groupings in This PC” set, This PC still showed the heading “Devices and drives”, which is the default grouping, on Windows Server 2025 (24H2 shell) and on the 25H2 Arm64 client. We cannot confirm the option from that run, and we do not claim it fails in general.

The classic Address Bar choice does nothing on new builds. Upstream’s FAQ says Microsoft removed the toggle in newer builds of 22H2, 23H2 and 24H2, so the option falls back to the default. On build 26100 our screenshot agrees. If you need that layout, the alternatives page compares other tools.

Register as shell extension is the risky one. It loads ExplorerPatcher into programs that show an Open or Save dialog, and it asks for administrator rights. Upstream’s wiki warns that this can make recovery harder if a Windows update breaks ExplorerPatcher. We have not tested it, and we would not turn it on for the sake of a title bar tweak. If you do, read the black screen guide first.

Context menu options are separate. “Disable the Windows 11 context menu” (the classic menu) and “Use immersive menus when displaying Windows 10 context menus” are different things: the second one controls how the Windows 10 style menus are drawn and is shown inverted in the app, so a tick keeps the immersive look. Windows also has a registry-only way to get the classic menu without ExplorerPatcher, which we photographed on the same build. See the classic context menu guide for both.

Windows 10. The context menu switch and the Title bar box are Windows 11 only. Windows 10 already has the ribbon, and on our Windows Server 2022 test machine (a Windows 10 21H2 shell) File Explorer showed it by default.

For the full effect of each Control Interface choice, see File Explorer ribbon on Windows 11. To pick several options and export them as one file, use the Configurator.