CyberNotes: QTTabBar Adds Tabs to Explorer in Vista and XP
Time Saving Tuesday
It is very common for a Windows user to have several Explorer windows open at the same time, which can quickly start to clutter up your Taskbar. At any given time I think I have between 2 and 5 explorer windows open at the same time, mostly because I’m normally working with files in many different locations on my PC. I thought to myself that there had to be a better way to reduce some of the clutter, so I sought out to find something that would not only get the job done, but get it done without costing me a penny.
I searched around for a little while stumbling across some software that I thought might work, but nothing that compelled me to try and install it. One of the last ones that I found was called QTTabBar (download mirror), and the homepage had some screenshots that demonstrated all of the functionality that I was looking for. I went looking around Google for some other people that may have written about the program because when it is possible, I like to read about things before I go and install them. Almost all of the Google search results were in Japanese though, so I figured heck with it and proceeded with the installation process.
Before starting the installer I decided to read the manual that the program came with (I know, geeks aren’t supposed to read those things 
). I didn’t see anything abnormal and noticed that they also include installation instructions for manually setting up QTTabBar. The window pictured to the right is the only thing you’ll see when installing, and it is just a one-click process, so it is painless (XP users will need to make sure .NET Framework 2.0 or 3.0 is installed, Vista users already have it installed).
To get QTTabBar up and running on Vista (that’s what I’m using) this is what you’ll have to do:
- After restarting Windows you’ll need to open Explorer. On Vista you need to enable the Menu Bar by going to Organize -> Layout -> Menu Bar. QTTabBar makes use of the Menu Bar to show the tabs.
- Right click on toolbar and check QT TabBar. You can also check QT Tab Standard Buttons if you want quick access to things like recently closed tabs, but I didn’t feel a need for those since it is all available through the right-click menu. You can hide the Menu Bar (File, Help, etc…) by pressing Alt + M after you’ve enabled QTTabbar.
- Note: You should probably restart Explorer after enabling QTTabBar.
Now that you have QTTabBar all setup you can start enjoying the benefits that it has to offer…primarily the tabs! Look at what a nice interface this is now:
Pretty sweet lookin’ huh? I like how the tabs overflow into another row if there are too many to see on the screen at one time, and the abundant list of options in the right-click menu is also a nice feature. The keyboard fanatics out there will surely enjoy the keyboard shortcuts that make use of familiar commands:
Ctrl + Tab: select next tab
Ctrl + Shift + Tab: select previous tab
Ctrl + Num0 - Num9: select a tab directly
Ctrl + W: close current tab
Ctrl + Shift + W: close all but current and locked
Ctrl + Shift + Z: restore a tab
Ctrl + O: open dialog for folder
Ctrl + L: lock/unlock current tab
Ctrl + Shift + L: lock/unlock all tabs
Ctrl + N: clone current tab
Alt + Left/Right: go back/forward
Alt + Ctrl + Left/Right: go back to the start/forward to the end
Alt + F4: close window
Alt + ,: show application menu
Alt + .: show current tab menu
Alt + M: show/hide menu bar (Vista only)
Now that I have this installed, I do have to admit that my Taskbar is never as cluttered as it used to be. If it sounds like something that you want to try out just head on over to QTTabBar’s homepage or download it straight from our mirror.
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Tags: CyberNotes, Freeware, Software, Apple, Downloads, Microsoft, Screenshots, Windows Vista
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yet another great tip. i use totalcommander for the most part, but there are times that i prefer explorer and this will help tremendously. i may have missed something somewhere but when i create a group of, say, 5 locked tabs then close and reopen explorer i of course have to right click and restore the group. that’s ok, but i’d like for them to come back locked, i haven’t figured out how to have them come back in the same state with which i left them. anyone help me out?
thanks.
Unfortunately I haven’t figured that out either. I’ve been playing with it for a little while and haven’t noticed anything that would let you do that. Sorry.
Good find!
I had tried using Jedi Window Dock for similar purpose, but it had some minor stability issues… I’ll give this one a shot.
It would be perfect if the tabs had little close buttons like firefox tabs
much like FF, you can scroll button click to close a tab. (handy if you have a scroll button)
Ryan, under Options / window - down at the bottom are check boxes for restore tabs and restore locked tabs. after about the 3rd or 4th closing of explorer and reopening later the locked tabs started coming in all the time.
That was a nice program, but just like you said it does have some stability problems. I guess that is expected since it was coded in a day’s time.
That was one thing I was missing from it as well, but Ctrl W works and that’s what I use in Firefox so it didn’t bother me too much.
Awesome! Thanks for pointing that out.
Love this program. One neat thing I discovered is the ability to create a memo for a folder.(Right click on folder for the option).
This really helps with those folders that have obscure names. The memo appears each time you open that folder.
That is pretty cool…didn’t notice that feature but I’ll have to start using it.
Yes, It’s a great addon. I created a list of the features here (with screenshots):
http://my.opera.com/community/.....?id=199612
The QTAddress Bar addon is also great (ofcourse for XP users only
)
That’s a nice list Ayush.
All of these cool features are great, but I can’t figure out how to open a folder in a new tab. How do I take advantage of tabs? Also, I don’t know what’s wrong with my Windows Explorer layout, but the space allocated for the tabs is about one inch on the far right of my screen, meaning only about two tabs/row can be shown. I’m using XP, and need some help with this program.
I’m actually not sure if there is a shortcut to have a folder open in a new tab. I haven’t found one, but it’s been awhile since I used the program.
To Gigel,
Under options>>>windows select the first radio button {when mouse wheel clicked on folder} and from the adjoining scroll list select {new tab}.
Thanks Ryan,this program is so cool.