Skip to main content

Digital Trends may earn a commission when you buy through links on our site. Why trust us?

Windows 11 may launch tabbed File Explorer, smarter Clipboard

Microsoft is holding an event featuring Surface and Windows Chief Panos Panay on April 5, and even though it seems to be catered to enterprises, some high expectations are being set. Rumors indicate that Microsoft could announce some big Windows 11 features come event day.

The leading belief is that Windows 11’s clipboard could get a lot smarter, according to The Verge. Microsoft might announce the addition of suggested actions to the Windows clipboard, including being able to call a copied phone number or send an email to a copied email address.

A screen shot shows Windows 11's tabs in the File Explorer.
Rafael Rivera/ Twitter

Microsoft might also announce a tabbed experience for File Explorer so you can open more of your favorite folders at once, without going to a new window. Both of these features were spotted hidden away in recent Windows Insider builds, adding to the speculation.

Outside of those two key features, the announcement of a new emailing app for Windows 11 is another possibility for this event. Currently known as “One Outlook” internally at Microsoft, the app functions like the Outlook on the web experience. It might be announced as a modern alternative to the Mail & Calendar app in Windows 11. This app has been in the works for nearly a year, and a preview was recently spotted online.

Since the event is catered toward hybrid workforces, Microsoft Edge, Microsoft Teams, and other Microsoft 365 apps may end up being big topics that Panay touches on. Microsoft could talk about 3D avatars in Microsoft Teams, and a new feature for Edge that lets you organize, color code, and save your open windows into “workspaces.” As for the other Microsoft services, new features for Windows 365 Cloud PC, Microsoft Endpoint Manager, and even Microsoft Defender, are all expected.

Microsoft’s Windows Event kicks off at 8 a.m. PT on April 5. Along with Panay, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella has also been confirmed to speak at the event. There are three breakout sessions planned after the main show is finished, with demos centered around productivity, collaboration, management, and security. Digital Trends will be covering the event live, so stay tuned for updates and the latest news.

Editors' Recommendations

Arif Bacchus
Arif Bacchus is a native New Yorker and a fan of all things technology. Arif works as a freelance writer at Digital Trends…
Windows 11 might nag you about AI requirements soon
Copilot on a laptop on a desk.

After recent reports of new hardware requirements for the upcoming Windows 11 24H2 update, it is evident that Microsoft is gearing up to introduce a bunch of new AI features. A new report now suggests that the company is working on adding new code to the operating system to alert users if they fail to match the minimum requirements to run AI-based applications.

According to Albacore on X (formerly known as Twitter), systems that do not meet the requirements will display a warning message in the form of a watermark. After digging into the latest Windows 11 Insider Build 26200, he came across requirements coded in the operating system for an upcoming AI File Explorer feature. The minimum requirement includes an ARM64 processor, 16GB of memory, 225GB of total storage, and a Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite NPU.

Read more
The next big Windows 11 update has a new hardware requirement
Windows 11 device sitting on a stool.

Microsoft’s upcoming Windows 11 24H2 update is expected to arrive with yet another hardware requirement. Centered around SSE4.2 or Streaming SIMD Extensions 4.2, a crucial component for modern processors, the new Windows 11 24H2 with build 26080 will only boot on CPUs that support the instruction set.

This information comes from Bob Pony on X (previously known as Twitter), following earlier reports in February where he claimed that CPUs lacking support for the POPCNT instruction were no longer compatible with Windows 11. The updated requirement is essentially the same, except that they now mandate the entire SSE 4.2 instruction set instead of just the POPCNT instruction within it, as was previously required.

Read more
You’re going to hate the latest change to Windows 11
A laptop running Windows 11.

Just two weeks after rolling out a preview build to Windows Insiders, Microsoft is pushing out an update to Windows 11 that adds advertisements to the Start menu. Build KB5036980, which is now slowly rolling out to the wider Windows 11 user base, includes recommendations in the Start menu, and they sneakily sit beside your real apps.

These apps comes exclusively from the Microsoft store, and they sit in the Recommended section of the Start menu. This section includes recently used, frequent, and new apps, but one (or more) slots will now be dedicated to an ad. As the update reads: "The Recommended section of the Start menu will show some Microsoft Store apps. These apps come from a small set of curated developers. This will help you to discover some of the great apps that are available."

Read more