In Windows XP, contents of My Computer look like this:
On the top there is Title bar that you can use to bring folder or program to front by clicking on it once. Double-clicking on Title bar maximizes the folder or program window. Double-clicking again restores the window to its previous size. When you click and hold left mouse button on Title bar, you can move the window by moving your mouse and then releasing the left mouse button.
Windows 8 and 10 also include Quick Access Toolbar in Title bar (see the picture later in this article).
Windows 8 and 10 also include Quick Access Toolbar in Title bar (see the picture later in this article).
To the right of each Title bar there are three buttons:
From the left they are: Minimize, Maximize/Restore and Close. Their functions are quite essential, right?
Menu bar holds all commands that you can use.
Toolbar includes some common commands:
- Back and Forward buttons move you backwards and forwards in folder browsing history, one step at a time. The little arrowhead pointing down open the list of recently visited locations. You can also move back one step at a time by pressing ALT+LEFT ARROW on your keyboard. You can move forward one step at a time by pressing ALT+RIGHT ARROW on your keyboard.
- Up button takes you one step up in folder tree (hierarchy). For example, if your current open folder is My Pictures that is located under My Documents, then clicking the Up button takes you to My Documents folder.
- Search button opens or closes Search pane that you can use for finding files and folders.
- Folders button opens or closes Folders pane with Common Locations, folders tree (hierarchy); network browser, Recycle Bin and Desktop contents. You can use that pane for quickly opening a folder or location. Please note that Folders pane hides Common tasks pane.
- Views button allows you to switch between different folder views - icons, list, details, thumbnails, etc.
Address bar displays the current folder you are browsing. Here you can type in location name (for example, "c:\documents and settings" or "My Documents") or web address (for example, "www.google.com") and press ENTER on your keyboard or Go button next to address bar to go to that location. You can also select a location by clicking the down arrow button at the right side of Address bar.
Common tasks pane in Windows XP is present only if Folders pane is not open. It includes common tasks relevant to open folder or selected file type, links to common locations (My Documents, My Computer, etc) and details about open folder or selected file.
Folder contents is a list of what's in the folder. You can quickly refresh/reload the contents by pressing F5 key on your keyboard. In Details view you can sort folder contents quickly by clicking on column name (such as Name, Type, Total Size, etc). Sorted column and sorting order are indicated by an small arrowhead to the right of column name. If the arrowhead points up, the sorting order is ascending, if it points down, the order is descending. You can toggle sorting order by clicking on column name.
You can select one item by clicking on it.
If you want to select multiple consecutive items, click on the first item, then press and hold down SHIFT key on your keyboard and click on the last item.
If you want to select multiple items that are not consecutive, click on the first item, then press and hold down CTRL key and click on other items you want to select.
To select all items in folder contents, press CTRL+A on your keyboard or open Edit menu and click Select All.
If you want to select multiple consecutive items, click on the first item, then press and hold down SHIFT key on your keyboard and click on the last item.
If you want to select multiple items that are not consecutive, click on the first item, then press and hold down CTRL key and click on other items you want to select.
To select all items in folder contents, press CTRL+A on your keyboard or open Edit menu and click Select All.
To learn more about managing items with Windows/File Explorer, see the Work with files and folders in Windows tutorial.
Status bar shows summary of folder items or selected items, such as count or total size. When you are in a menu, status bar shows quick description of selected command.