Adding columns to File Explorer

Posted on Updated on by David LeonardCategories:Blog, Operating Systems, Productivity

There are many pieces of information about files that can be listed in Windows File Explorer that the defaults do not include

For instance, I like to be able to see the length of a video file before I decide whether to watch it now.

To get the most information about files you need to be viewing in the “Details” mode, and you also need to be in this mode to add columns of other file attributes. To get to this view In file Explorer, click on the “View” option and then “Details” (Windows 11), or click on the “View” tab and then the “Details” option (Windows 10).

So, in my folder with video files, I want to add a column to see the playing time (the “length”) of each file.

To add a column in either Windows 10 or Windows 11:

Change column headings
Figure 1.Right-click in the area shown by the red box in File Explorer to choose the columns to add or remove

  • Right-click on the File Explorer window at a horizontal level with the existing column headings and to the right of those headings (see Figure 1 above)
  • This should now be showing a menu with the most common items. Just click on any unticked item to add it to the display
  • If the required item is not showing, just click on “more” and place a tick next to the required item(s) in the box that has just opened

The new set of columns for that folder will be remembered by Windows even after re-booting.

All well and good, but if you have many folders containing video files, you wouldn’t want to change them all manually. Instead, we can get Windows to change all folders that it thinks contains the same type of items (in this case, videos).

The “types” of folder that Windows recognises are:

  • General (ie a folder that contains mixed items)
  • Documents
  • Pictures
  • Music
  • Videos
Select folder type
Figure 2. Under the “customise” tab, view the folder type or change it via the dropdown menu

First of all, we need to check what type of folder Windows has assigned to the folder we have been dealing with (and to change it if necessary) – see Figure 2 above.

In either Windows 10 or Windows 11:

  • Right-click on the folder name
  • Left-click on “Properties”
  • Click on the “Customise” tab
  • The current folder type will be displayed. If necessary, choose a different folder type from the dropdown box below “Optimise this folder for:”

Now you can instruct Windows to change the view of all other folders of this type:

Apply view to similar folders
Figure 3. Applying the changes to all folders of the same type

In Windows 10

  • Select the folder to which you have just added (or maybe deleted) columns by clicking on it
  • In the “View” tab, click on “Options”
  • In the window that has just opened, click on the “View” tab (Figure 3 above)
  • Beneath where it says “You can apply this view to all folders of this type”, click on “Apply to folders”

In Windows 11

  • Select the folder to which you have just added (or maybe deleted) columns by clicking on it
  • Click on the three dots on the command line near the top of the window
  • Click on “Options”
  • In the window that has just opened, click on the “View” tab (Figure 3 above)
  • Beneath where it says “You can apply this view to all folders of this type”, click on “Apply to folders”

So now I have very little excuse for opening a video file ten minutes before bedtime.

David Leonard