Changing Explorer Navigation Controls

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated December 26, 2016)

Al notes that after a decade using Windows XP and now forced into Windows 7, he's obviously 10 years older. This means he needed to change some visibility settings in Windows so I could see some controls. Making that change, however, somehow changed the Windows Explorer navigation pane's expand/collapse controls from triangles to +/- signs. Al wonders how he can get the triangles back, hopefully without canceling his readability changes.

Henry, in response, notes that the designers of Windows 7 put together some very good code for the operating system, but they ignored or forgot many well-honed user interface features and policies from XP. Among the first additions Henry makes to restore lost functionality to a new Windows 7 system is to install two utilities: Classic Shell and Ultimate Windows Tweaker.

Together these utilities get you a desktop, Windows Explorer, and right-click menus that make working on the system much easier. You can find them at these locations:

http://www.classicshell.net/
http://www.thewindowsclub.com/ultimate-windows-tweaker-v2-a-tweak-ui-for-windows-7-vista

Both utilities are freeware. It should be noted that the first utility (Classic Shell) also works with Windows 8 and Windows 10, as well.

 This tip (12904) applies to Windows 7, 8, and 10.

Author Bio

Allen Wyatt

With more than 50 non-fiction books and numerous magazine articles to his credit, Allen Wyatt is an internationally recognized author. He is president of Sharon Parq Associates, a computer and publishing services company. ...

MORE FROM ALLEN

Searching for Text that Does Not Have a Certain Format

You can easily use Find and Replace to find text that has a particular format to it. Most people don't know you can use ...

Discover More

Inserting Worksheet Values with a Macro

Macros are often used to process information in a worksheet. You may need your macro to change the values stored in ...

Discover More

Enhanced Filling

Using the AutoFill feature of Excel is very handy. If you want to expand the utility offered by the feature, all you need ...

Discover More
More WindowsTips

Use Cmd to Find Your Computer Serial Number

You can access your computer's serial number without looking all over on the outside of the box. Use the Command prompt ...

Discover More

Enabling Speech to Text Dictation

With Dictation feature in Windows 10 Fall Creators Update, you can quickly say what you want and have Windows 10 ...

Discover More

WizMouse

WizMouse was developed with one goal in mind: scroll the window under the mouse wheel even if it's not the active window. ...

Discover More
Comments

If you would like to add an image to your comment (not an avatar, but an image to help in making the point of your comment), include the characters [{fig}] (all 7 characters, in the sequence shown) in your comment text. You’ll be prompted to upload your image when you submit the comment. Maximum image size is 6Mpixels. Images larger than 600px wide or 1000px tall will be reduced. Up to three images may be included in a comment. All images are subject to review. Commenting privileges may be curtailed if inappropriate images are posted.

What is four less than 6?

There are currently no comments for this tip. (Be the first to leave your comment—just use the simple form above!)

Newest Tips
Links and Sharing
OUR COMPANY
OUR PRODUCTS
OUR SITES
 

Copyright © 2026 Sharon Parq Associates, Inc.