Microsoft will be removing some folder management options from the Windows 11 File Explorer. This change is included in the latest Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 23481 and is not yet official. However, they are being trialed and will likely be reflected in future updates of Windows 11. [Here is a complete breakdown of the items that will be removed from the File Explorer folder options (via Tom's Hardware):

According to Microsoft, these features will not be completely eliminated. Instead, they will only be accessible through registry settings. Not exactly the most user-friendly way to toggle "Show Drive Letters," is it?

Perhaps the idea would be to reduce the clutter of context menus and narrow down the available options to only the most commonly used ones, making them easier to find and access.

Microsoft states that "many of these are old, legacy settings that are not regularly used by people using Windows 11. And these settings will no longer appear under the folder options in File Explorer, at least in this Insider Preview build.

How much you miss any of the above options is obviously quite personal. However, it is surprising that basic features such as "Show drive letter," "Always show icons, never thumbnails," and "Show file icons in thumbnails" are selected so infrequently by users that Microsoft has decided it is acceptable to discontinue them It would seem.

Again, if you can't live without these options, they remain available via the Registry Editor. However, we can't help but think that there must be a better halfway house that provides access to these kinds of settings in a rather more user-friendly way than the old regedit, while simplifying the primary user interface of Windows. Let's discuss.