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How to Activate & Access New UWP File Explorer in Windows 10

If you’d like to try out the new UWP File Explorer in Windows 10, follow the below steps and you will have it in no time.

For a long time now, there are some speculations that Microsoft will or is developing the new UWP based File Explorer for Windows 10. Of course, Microsoft never confirmed or even acknowledged the wild speculations.

That being said, there is a UWP File Explorer built into Windows 10. However, it is completely hidden from plain sight on the account of it being very basic and not yet fully developed. For example, you cannot see it listed in the start menu, Windows Store, or even in the Add or Remove Programs page in the PC Settings app. But if you are curious, you can access the new UWP File Explorer interface with just a simple trick. There is no need for any registry hacks or the need to install apps.

Without further ado, let me show how you can do it.

Steps to Access UWP File Explorer Interface

Like I said before, there is no need to install any first-party or third-party software or even for any complex registry edits. All you have to do is execute a single run command and you are good to go.

1. First, open the Run dialog box by pressing the Win + R keyboard shortcut.

2. In the Run dialog box, copy and paste the below shell command and click on the “Ok” button.

shell:AppsFolder\c5e2524a-ea46-4f67-841f-6a9465d9d515_cw5n1h2txyewy!App

(Alternative) If you want to, you can also paste the above shell command in the File Explorer’s address bar and press Enter. It will achieve the same thing.

Access uwp file explorer windows 10 - run command

3. As soon you click the button, the UWP File Explorer will open automatically. As you can see, it is very basic in terms of features and in the UI department.

Once opened, pin it to the taskbar so that you can access it without having to use the shell command.

The functionality of the UWP File Explorer so basic that it doesn’t even have different icons for drives and folders. The drives just appear the same as the folders.

Access uwp file explorer windows 10 - opened

If you want to, you can change the display layout to either list or grid by clicking on the top Display Style icon on the top navigation button.

Though the UWP File Explorer is basic in every sense, just like the win32 File Explorer, it still supports all most all the file formats. Depending on the file type, it can display icons and thumbnails of a file.

Access uwp file explorer windows 10 - file type support

That is all. It is that simple to enable UWP File Explorer in Windows 10 and access it. If you are stuck or need some help, comment below and I will try to help as much as possible.

If you like this article, do check out how to open multiple File Explorer Windows and how to find large files in File Explorer.

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