# Windows Explorer

36 Hacker News commenters recommended Windows Explorer and 141 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 11 of 13 months; owners who said how long report a median of 2 years (4 owners).

**Verdict:** Recommended for its tabs, keyboard navigation, and fast opening, and many prefer it to macOS Finder. Common caveat: slow loading, freezes and crashes.

## Why people recommend it

- Better than macOS Finder (5 comments): "the windows XP explorer in particular was fundamentally objectively better than finder" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49590470)) "Finder is a rare case in macOS where Windows actually outclasses it in every way." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49592284)) "Basic OS stuff like Explorer is just light years ahead of Finder." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46026509))
- Useful tabs (5 comments): "Tabs in file explorer and notepad are my favorite windows feature in decades." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48370985)) "You can pull the File Explorer tabs from my cold, dead hands!" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48371178)) "Tabs on notepad and file explorer are extremely nice." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47997010))
- Opens instantly, feels responsive (4 comments): "It has a nice feel compared to the new laggy context menus and selections" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46043353)) "explorer opens instantly on my windows desktop" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48144892)) "Windows Explorer displayed them instantly." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46798287))
- Efficient keyboard navigation (3 comments): "Watching someone experienced using Windows' file manager with only the keyboard is almost vi-like in its efficiency." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49591003)) "I just tested and was able to navigate to any part of the File Explorer window with nothing but a keyboard." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46126673)) "I love skipping back 4 folders in one go." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48629556))

## What people warn about

- Slow, freezes and crashes (10 comments): "it's incredibly slow and unstable now and frequently crashes, taking the taskbar down with it" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46802455)) "Explorer still freezes every second day, GUI interactions take several seconds and the sidebar is full of tabloid headlines and ads." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46434602)) "I still don't know how to create a native app so inefficient that, it needs to take more than 500 milliseconds to open a directory" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47462376))
- Cluttered, dated interface (4 comments): "Explorer still freezes every second day, GUI interactions take several seconds and the sidebar is full of tabloid headlines and ads." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46434602)) "they make it hard for users to find their home folder and present a bunch of virtual things that are confusing" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48591912)) "Microsoft managed fill their top-space and not let enough space for the address to be properly displayed" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48374106))
- Poor handling of large folders (2 comments): "Explorer file browser is just disaster. I am forced to use third-party browsing app when the directory contains hundreds of media." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46804731)) "explorer would be so slow with fodlers that has a large number of files it would darastically impede my workflow" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48144693))

## Where to get it

- [Visit the official site](https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/)

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Windows Explorer", https://hackerapproved.com/p/windows-explorer/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).