Can’t remember where that shared file is in Windows 11? Microsoft promises to make it easier to find the files you need

Microsoft is currently testing a new ‘Shared’ section in Windows 11’s File Explorer, which aims to make it easier to find everything that’s been shared with you across Microsoft services.

Windows Latest flagged up that the new addition is part of the latest preview of Windows 11 (24H2) in the Dev channel (build 26120).

The Shared section sits alongside the ‘Recent’ and ‘Favorites’ tabs, showing any file that has been shared with your Microsoft account (whether that’s a document from OneDrive, an email, and so forth). This makes it easy to see these files, right upfront in File Explorer, rather than having to hunt for them.

While the feature isn’t working properly in preview right now – at least not according to testing carried out by Windows Latest – the theory is that files will be marked with their origin, and, for example, something shared in cloud storage would open in OneDrive (naturally in the Edge browser).

If you’re using Microsoft products in a work or school environment, your Shared section will also include files shared within your organization or school body.

A screenshot of File Explorer in Windows 11

(Image credit: Microsoft)

File this one under ‘plenty’

Microsoft further notes in the blog post for build 26120 that you’ll also see more types of file in the Recent and Favorites tabs, as well as the new Shared section, and that includes files you’ve recently interacted with in Power BI or Microsoft Forms, for example, or Designer. Expect to see a wider selection of apps represented in these parts of the File Explorer UI, in short.

The preview build also brings a few other developments, such as new flyout menus for pinned apps in the Start menu for easier access to certain features, the ability to share files that come up in Windows search more easily, and a relocation of media controls to the bottom-center of the lock screen when you have media playing in the background.

All of this should be packaged in the upcoming big Windows 11 24H2 update, which we expect to arrive any week now. However, as ever with work in testing, we don’t know if all the features will make the cut for the release version of the update.

It seems likely that most of these proposed changes will end up in Windows 11, though, including the Shared tab – assuming the current bugginess can be ironed out by Microsoft as the feature proceeds onward through the testing channels.