Microsoft introduces ‘Gallery’ to File Explorer in Windows

SAN FRANCISCO: Microsoft has introduced a new feature called "Gallery" in File Explorer for users to access their photo collection easily in Windows 11.

"We are introducing Gallery, a new feature in File Explorer designed to make it easy to access your photo collection. The set of content shown in Gallery is the same as what you'll see in the All Photos view in the Photos app," Microsoft said in a blogpost.

The latest Windows Insider Build 23435 has introduced the Gallery view, which can be accessed quickly through the File Explorer's navigation panel.

Moreover, the company said if users have OneDrive Camera Roll Backup set up on their phones, photos they take will show up automatically at the top of the view.

Users can choose which folders are shown in Gallery through the Collection dropdown.

They can also add subfolders of existing sources to filter to a subset of your content, such as desktop backgrounds and SD card/camera imports.

The feature is currently rolled out to a few testers and is not available to all Insiders on the Dev Channel as the tech giant plans to monitor feedback before rolling it out to everyone.

Meanwhile, Microsoft has announced that it will be making significant changes to the way Windows manages which apps open specific files by default, and how users can pin programmes to their Start menu on the taskbar or on the desktop.

The tech giant will introduce a new deep link "uniform resource identifier" (URI), allowing developers to send users to the correct section of the Settings menu when they want to change how Windows 11 responds to specific links and file types.