Forum Discussion
File Explorer in Windows 11 does not show text under buttons. This is confusing for older people.
- And yet another voice supporting this proposal. I have no idea why, ever, an "icons and text" display option is not available, even if it's not the default. I've been using Windows since it first hit the street, and I still "read the text" more quickly than I recognize the icons for certain things.
Please bring "icons and text" back!
I suspect it's confusing for everyone, but I'm older, so what would I know. I only program computers.
Back to the issue: I have a better solution than offering an option to show either hieroglyphics or both hieroglyphics + text: offer a third solution to show only text. The hieroglyphics add nothing for me, or--I suspect--for anyone who wants text labels.
As for the problem of having too many actions crammed into one list, how about this: Have a top level choice, maybe call it "Edit"; under that you could have "Copy", "Paste", "Cut", and then maybe a "More...". Clicking on the "More" (or for Old Fogies like me, using the keyboard to navigate there) would bring up these other choices. Or some of the other choices might better go under some other top-level item, maybe call it "Tools".
There remains the question of what to call these new-fangled ways of interacting with one's computer. I'd suggest we use the word "menu". You'll have to admit, in some ways "menu" makes more sense than "ribbon".
I know, this is radically new. Who on earth would read text labels? Who would use their keyboard to navigate these things, rather than a mouse? But it's worth a try, IMHO. And don't stop at the File Manager, try these funky menus out in Word and other Microsoft products.
- I find there are normally two types of people - visual or textual. Some (mainly older) search for and read text (often quickly) but others (usually younger) quickly scan for images they recognise. Those are the ones that remember a "cog" or "gear" usually means "Settings" and probably know that a triangle means play and a square means stop. However, those (usually older) who literally use technology with fear of breaking it or doing something that deems their device useless will often panic - and they require both icons and text! Microsoft is not Apple or Google and for years the Microsoft Designers and Developers have catered for everyone. I do not understand why a "clean interface" such as that of Windows 11 cannot include text!
Mixed news, according to this article (with screen capture) some text labels are supposed to have come back on right click menus: https://www.pcworld.com/article/2472385/new-features-in-windows-11-2024-update.html
They're certainly not back in main File Explorer nor is there a tweak one can make in Options to make text labels appear.
I've never warmed to the new Windows 11 context menu, so one tweak I have done is to get the old-style full context menu to appear on right click, so I have almost no icons and all text.
The "icons plus text" should be the default, universally, with an option to go "icons only."
mcswell Some good ideas there. I think at least the Pro version would offer the choicees. Right now I see very little difference between Pro and the regular edition
My biggest complaint is that file management is a top priority for all computers. That Windows 11 is set up to make file management a third rate choice is absurd. The move, copy, and paste are key to file management.- Peter_R_732 FWIW, on computers I own, for over a decade I've been using a freeware file manager called FreeCommander XE (there's also a pay version, but the free one does everything I need). Dual panes, genuine menus with text instead of that hokey ribbon, lots of capabilities that File Manager doesn't have. About the only time I need to use File Manager is when I'm on a computer at work, and then I get frustrated. There are other freeware (and payware) file management programs as well, probably all much better than the File Manager that's built into Windows.
mcswell
Thank you. I just don't understand how removing the "move to" is acceptable from an easy to use perspective. Windows 11 takes away more than it gives.
