Configure Windows Explorer
Configures the most common File Explorer view settings, such as showing file name extensions, hidden files, protected operating system files, the full path in the title bar, and what File Explorer opens to.\n\nEvery setting has an Unchanged option, so only the settings you actually select are changed on the device.\n\nThe settings are always written to the profile template in C:\Users\Default, so users who sign in for the first time after the deployment get them. Enable Apply To Existing Users to update the user profiles that already exist on the device as well.
Parameters
Section titled “Parameters”Show File Name Extensions
Section titled “Show File Name Extensions”Optional — Default: Unchanged
Controls whether File Explorer shows file name extensions such as .exe and .docx.\n\nSelect Enabled to show extensions, which is recommended because it makes it easier to spot malicious files that pretend to be documents. Select Disabled to hide them. Select Unchanged to leave this setting exactly as it is on the device. Allowed values: Unchanged, Enabled, Disabled.
Show Hidden Files
Section titled “Show Hidden Files”Optional — Default: Unchanged
Controls whether File Explorer shows hidden files and folders.\n\nSelect Enabled to show them, Disabled to hide them, or Unchanged to leave this setting exactly as it is on the device. Allowed values: Unchanged, Enabled, Disabled.
Show Protected Operating System Files
Section titled “Show Protected Operating System Files”Optional — Default: Unchanged
Controls whether File Explorer shows protected operating system files.\n\nSelect Enabled only for administrative or troubleshooting scenarios, because these files are hidden to prevent users from changing or deleting files Windows needs. Select Disabled to hide them, or Unchanged to leave this setting exactly as it is on the device. Allowed values: Unchanged, Enabled, Disabled.
Show Full Path In Title Bar
Section titled “Show Full Path In Title Bar”Optional — Default: Unchanged
Controls whether File Explorer shows the complete folder path instead of only the folder name.\n\nSelect Enabled to show the full path, Disabled to show only the folder name, or Unchanged to leave this setting exactly as it is on the device. Allowed values: Unchanged, Enabled, Disabled.
Open File Explorer To
Section titled “Open File Explorer To”Optional — Default: Unchanged
Controls the location File Explorer opens when it is started.\n\nSelect This PC to open the drive and folder overview, or Quick Access to open the list of pinned and recent folders. Home is what Quick Access is called in Windows 11 and results in the same location. Select Unchanged to leave this setting exactly as it is on the device. Allowed values: Unchanged, This PC, Quick Access, Home.
Apply To Existing Users
Section titled “Apply To Existing Users”Required — Default: True
Enable to apply the selected settings to the user profiles that already exist on the device as well, both for users who are signed in and for users who are signed out.\n\nDisable to leave the existing profiles alone. The existing users then keep their current File Explorer settings.\n\nThe profile template in C:\Users\Default is always configured, no matter how this setting is set, so users who sign in for the first time after the deployment always get the settings.\n\nThe brick runs as the local system account and therefore never writes to HKEY_CURRENT_USER, because that would configure the system account itself. It writes directly into each target profile instead.
Restart Explorer
Section titled “Restart Explorer”Required — Default: True
Enable to restart File Explorer in the signed-in user session so the settings take effect right away. The desktop and taskbar disappear for a moment while File Explorer restarts, and open File Explorer windows are closed.\n\nDisable to leave the running session untouched. The settings then take effect the next time the user signs in.\n\nFile Explorer is only restarted when the signed-in user was one of the users that were actually changed. Nothing is restarted when no user is signed in, or when Apply To Existing Users is disabled, because only the profile template in C:\Users\Default is configured then and a restart would close the signed-in user’s windows without changing anything for that user.
Details
Section titled “Details”- Category: Provisioning
- Brick ID:
Windows-Explorer-Configure
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