File Explorer Tabs Not Showing Windows 11? Here’re 5 Methods

Solution 1: Ensure You Have Updated to Windows 11 22H2

First and foremost, you should make sure that you have updated to Windows 11 22H2 after you receive the File Explorer tabs missing issue. To be specific, you should be on Windows 11 Build 22621.675 or later (KB5019509, October 18).

That’s because File Explorer tabs support was officially added to the Windows 11 stable channel after the 22H2 update. If you run a system version older than 22H2, it is normal to see the File Explorer without tabs. To fix the “Windows 11 File Explorer tabs not showing” issue, check if you have updated to Windows 22H2. If not, download and install this system version manually.

Step 1: Open the Run window by pressing Windows and R keys.

Step 2: Type winver in the Run window and click OK.

Step 3: Then you can view your system version and its build. If the system is outdated, update it with the following steps.

Step 4: Open Settings and click Update & Security.

Step 5: Click Windows Update > Check for Updates. If there are available updates, the computer will download and install them automatically. You just need to follow the on-screen instructions to finish the process.

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Solution 2: Restart File Explorer

Due to temporary glitches, the File Explorer tabs missing issue may pop up. In this case, you should restart File Explorer to solve the error.

Step 1: Open Task Manager by pressing Ctrl + Alt + Del or Ctrl + Shift + Esc keys.

Step 2: Under the Processes tab, find Windows Explorer.

Step 3: Right-click Windows Explorer and click End task. Alternatively, you can also directly click the Restart option.

Step 4: Close Task Manager and restart File Explorer to check if the “File Explorer tabs not showing in Windows 11” issue is solved.

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Solution 3: Clear File Explorer Cache

As you might know, every program on the computer stores cache files locally to improve performance. However, once these cache files get corrupted, it affects the performance of the program heavily. There’s no exception for File Explorer.

You may receive the File Explorer tabs not showing issue if the cache file is corrupted. Then you need to clear the File Explorer cache to get rid of the issue.

Step 1: Type File Explorer Options in the search box and then find & click it under Best match.

Step 2: Navigate to the Privacy section under the General tab.

Step 3: Click the Clear button to remove File Explorer history.

Step 4: Click OK to save the operation.

Step 5: Open File Explorer to see if the tabs are back.

Solution 4: Force Enable Tabs in File Explorer via ViVeTool

Try enabling tabs in File Explorer by force via ViVeTool if the File Explorer tabs missing issue still persists after installing Windows 22H2.

Step 1: Navigate to the GitHub page and click ViVeTool-v0.3.2.zip to download ViVeTool.

Step 2: Unzip the downloaded Zip folder.

Step 3: Right-click the extracted folder and tap Copy as Path in the drop-down menu.

Step 4: Open Command Prompt as administrator from the search box.

Step 5: Type cd and add a space in the CMD window. Then paste the copied directory path and press Enter.

Step 6: Type vivetool /enable /id:36354489 and hit Enter.

Step 7: To enable SV2Navpane in File Explorer, type vivetool /enable /id:37634385 and hit Enter.

Step 8: Input vivetool /enable /id:37634385 and press Enter.

Step 9: Close the Command Prompt window and restart your computer.

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Solution 5: Reinstall Windows Updates

It is likely that the “File Explorer tabs not showing in Windows 11” issue occurs due to an update malfunction. If so, you need to reinstall the Windows 11 22H2 update. This will bring back tabs to File Explorer.

Step 1: Open Windows Settings and then click Update & Security > Windows Update.

Step 2: Move to the right side of the window, find View update history, and then click on it.

Step 3: Find and click Uninstall updates.

Step 4: In the next window, go through all the recently-installed updates and find the 22H2 build.

Step 5: Click on that build and tap Uninstall.

Step 6: After the uninstallation process ends, install Windows 11 22H2 again.

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Further reading:

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