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 Adjectives and Adverbs

Searching for different types of words in your documents is a nice thing to contemplate, but it is much harder to do in ...

Discover More

Removing Leading Spaces in a Table

If you work with data imported from the Web or with documents prepared by others, you may have tables that have leading ...

Discover More

Maximum Length Limit for a Macro

Make your macros too long, and Excel may just refuse to run them at all. This tip explains what the limit is for macros, ...

Discover More
More WindowsTips

M8 Free Clipboard

If you've ever found it tedious to do copy/paste with one piece of information at a time, you'll really like M8 Free ...

Discover More

CutePDF Writer

CutePDF Writer is an extremely versatile utility that allows you to create PDF files from virtually any application that ...

Discover More

Everything

If you want to be able to find any file on your hard disk in just seconds, Everything is a utility you'll find ...

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 two more than 2?

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 © 2025 Sharon Parq Associates, Inc.