NEW Windows 11 Build 22572 How to Enable Tabs in File Explorer

In March 2022, Microsoft released Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22572 to the Dev Channel, with new features, tweaks and bug fixes. It added Microsoft Family and Clipchamp as inbox apps and an update for Search called search highlights. It also contained a hidden feature many people wanted: tabs in File Explorer. In the video above, I show how to turn them on with a free tool called ViVeTool.

Update (October 2026): You no longer need ViVeTool for this. Tabs in File Explorer became a standard feature for everyone with the October 2022 update for Windows 11 version 22H2 (KB5019509), and the redesigned Task Manager also arrived with Windows 11 22H2. On any current Windows 11 version, just open File Explorer and press Ctrl + T for a new tab. The steps below are for Insider builds from early 2022.

In this article

1. Before You Start
2. How to Enable Tabs in File Explorer on Build 22572
3. Bonus: Enable the New Task Manager Design
4. Download ViVeTool

Before You Start

• You need Windows 11 build 22572 (or a later Dev Channel build). To get it, enroll in the Dev Channel under Settings > Windows Update > Windows Insider Program, then click Check for updates in Windows Update. In the video, I did this on an unsupported PC.
• ViVeTool was created by Rafael Rivera and Lucas (thebookisclosed) and is published on GitHub. It turns on hidden Windows features that Microsoft is still testing, so use it at your own risk.

How to Enable Tabs in File Explorer on Build 22572

1. Open the ViVeTool GitHub page.
2. Download the ViVeTool-v0.2.1.zip file (or use the download button at the end of this post).
3. Double-click the ZIP file to open it in File Explorer, click Extract all, then click Extract.
4. Create a folder called ViveTool on the C: drive and copy the extracted files into it (this is what I do in the video). You can also use any other folder.
5. Copy the path of the folder.
6. Open the Start menu, search for Command Prompt, right-click the top result and select Run as administrator.
7. Type the following command to go to the ViVeTool folder and press Enter (replace the path if your folder is somewhere else):

   cd C:\ViveTool

8. Type the following command to enable tabs in File Explorer and press Enter:

   vivetool addconfig 34370472 2

9. Restart the computer.

After the restart, open File Explorer: you can now open several tabs in the same window.

To undo the change, repeat the steps but use this command in step 8, then restart:

vivetool delconfig 34370472 2

Bonus: Enable the New Task Manager Design

The same tool can also enable the early preview of the redesigned Task Manager. It has rounded corners, the Mica material and new icons that match the design of Windows 11. Microsoft announced it with build 22557, but some users reported that Task Manager kept switching back to the classic version.

Follow steps 1 to 7 above, then run this command and restart the computer:

vivetool addconfig 35908098 2

To go back to the classic Task Manager, run this command and restart:

vivetool delconfig 35908098 2

Note: These commands are for ViVeTool v0.2.1, the version in the download button below. ViVeTool 0.3.0 and later use a different syntax, for example vivetool /enable /id:34370472.

Download ViVeTool

All ViVeTool versions: https://github.com/thebookisclosed/ViVe/releases

Download ViveTool