A refreshed design

The current File Explorer looks quite outdated. So I wanted to see how it would look like, if it gets a Fluent Design makeover.

The new File Explorer

The current title bar and ribbon UI is based on Office 2010’s ribbon, which looked good at the time but now it looks dated. So I used the title bar of Office 365 and introduced a new ribbon called “Dynamic ribbon”.

Dynamic Ribbon

The ribbon changes according to the state of the File Explorer. When nothing is selected, a toolbar with just options for managing the files appears.

Dynamic Ribbon ― No file selected

When a file is selected, a toolbar with options related to the file appears.

Dynamic Ribbon— file selected

Redesigned Address Bar

As I mentioned before, the new title bar has the same layout as Office 365’s title bar. This means that there is just one search bar, which looks pretty at the first glance but you might think where is the address bar?

The new search bar doubles as an address bar.

Redesigned Address bar

When it is clicked, the address of the folder―that you're in―shows up. If you want to search, just type what you want to search, if you want to type an address, the bar will just act like a typical address bar. Kind of like modern web browsers.

Tabs!

We all want tabs in the File Explorer. They are very useful, so if you want to use the tabs, click on the “+” icon placed on the top right corner.

Tabs in File Explorer

Split View

Split view allows you to see two folders at once

Split View

To access it, right click on the folder and click on on one of two options for snapping the folder:

Context menu doesn't show all the available options in this mock up

Dark Mode

I just wanted to see a dark version of this concept, though I’m not a huge fan of dark modes but I hope many of you will appreciate it :)