File Explorer, previously known as
Windows Explorer, is a
file manager application that is included with releases of the
Microsoft Windows operating system from
Windows 95 onwards. It provides a
graphical user interface for accessing the
file systems. It is also the component of the operating system that presents many user interface items on the
monitor such as the
taskbar and
desktop. Controlling the computer is possible without Windows Explorer running (for example, the File | Run command in Task Manager on NT-derived versions of Windows will function without it, as will commands typed in a command prompt window). Located in the
C:\Windows
directory, it is sometimes referred to as the
Windows shell,
explorer.exe
, or simply "Explorer".