- Introduction
- Using the Explorer Window
- Changing the Explorer Window View
- Opening and Viewing the Computer
- Viewing and Opening Documents
- Opening Recently Used Documents
- Working with Personal Folders
- Navigating Between Folders
- Viewing the Folders List
- Changing the Explorer Layout
- Customizing the Navigation Pane
- Organizing Files by Headings
- Searching for Files and Folders
- Saving a Search
- Changing Search Options
- Performing an Instant Search
- Performing an Advanced Search
- Performing Natural Language Searches
- Adding Properties and Tags to Files
- Modifying the Index to Improve Searches
- Creating and Renaming Files and Folders
- Copying and Moving Files and Folders
- Deleting and Restoring Files and Folders
- Creating a Shortcut to a File or Folder
- Hiding Files and Folders
- Changing Folder Options
- Changing File and Folder List Views
- Customizing Personal Folders
- Sharing Folders or Files with Others
- Compressing Files and Folders
- Managing Files Using a CD or DVD
Viewing the Folders List
Windows Vista offers a useful feature for managing files and folders, called the Folders list. The Folders list displays the window in two panes, or frames, which allows you to view information from two different locations. The left pane of the Folders list displays the file hierarchy of all the drives and folders on the computer, and the right pane displays the contents of the selected drive or folder. This arrangement enables you to view the file hierarchy of your computer and the contents of a folder simultaneously making it easy to copy, move, delete, and rename files and folders. Using the non filled arrow and the filled arrow to the left of an icon in the Folders list allows you to display different levels of the drives and folders on your computer without opening and displaying the contents of each folder.
View the Folders List
- Open any folder window.
- In the Navigation pane, click the Folders link.
Perform the commands you want to display folder structure and contents:
- To show the file and folder structure, click the non filled arrow.
- To hide the file and folder structure, click the filled arrow.
- To display the contents of a folder, click the folder icon.
- In the Navigation pane, click the Folders link again to close the Folders list.