The tool that Windows 7 provides to locate and work with files and folders in Windows Explorer. Windows Explorer has a number of components and features which are shown in the following figure:

To open Windows Explorer:

Right-click the Start button. The following shortcut menu is displayed:

From the shortcut menu, choose the Open Windows Explorer option, or click the Windows Explorer button ( ) on the Taskbar. This will open the following windows of Windows Explorer on your screen.

You can:

  • Click an object in the Subject pane to select it and get information about it in the details pane, preview it in the preview pane, or
  • Double-click an object in the Subject pane to open it so that you can see and work with its contents.

Moving a File or Folder 

It is a common task to move a file or a folder from its present position to a new one. It can be moved to some other drive, folder, pen drive, or elsewhere. 

To move a file or folder:

  1. Open Windows Explorer by right-clicking on the Start button and choosing Open Windows Explorer. 
  2. In the resulting Windows Explorer window, select a file or folder you want to move. If the file or folder is not in the default folder, then double click on a series of folders to locate the file or folder that you want to move.
  3. Click and drag the file to another folder in the navigation pane on the left side of the window.     If you right-click and drag, you're offered the options of moving, copying, or creating a shortcut to the item when you place it via a shortcut menu that appears.
  4. Click the close button in the upper-right corner of the Windows Explorer window to close it. 
Creating Shortcuts
    A shortcut is a link to an item (such as a file, folder, or program) on your computer. You can create shortcuts and then place them in a convenient location, such as on the desktop so that you can easily access the item that the shortcut links to.
    Shortcuts can be distinguished from the original file by the arrow that appears on the icon.

  1. Locate the file or folder by using Windows Explorer.
  2. In the resulting Windows Explorer window, right-click the file or folder that you want to create a shortcut for. This shortcut menu is displayed below:                                                                          

  3. Choose Send To - Desktop ( Create Shortcut ) from the shortcut menu. A shortcut of the selected file or folder is created on the Desktop.