Get Back Windows 10 Ribbon UI in Windows 11 File Explorer

The File Explorer in Windows 11 has a new/modern ribbon interface with small icons (no caption text underneath). The new ribbon interface may look bland and uncomfortable for new users who have upgraded to Windows 11 from Windows 10 or earlier.

Luckily, there are many different ways to get back the classic ribbon (Windows 10-style) interface in Windows 11 File Explorer.

Table of Contents

Get Back Classic Ribbon in Windows 11 File Explorer

To restore the old/classic ribbon back in Windows 11 File Explorer, follow these steps:

Method 1: Using Control Panel

Open Control Panel (control.exe) and click on the up arrow icon at the top.

(Alternately, you can press the Alt + Up arrow on your keyboard.)

This launches Explorer with the ribbon interface.

Method 2: Replacing the Explorer Shell with the WinSxS copy

Important: This method works on Build 22621.1265 and earlier. Do NOT use this method for Build 22621.1344 and higher.

Note: There may be one or more side-effects of this method. For example, the method disables the Windows 11 fast context menu; you’ll see the classic context menu instead. Also, do not use this method for Insider Preview builds, as the method has been tested and verified to work only in version 22H2.

Option 1: Setting the Explorer shell manually

1. Open an admin Command Prompt window.
2. Type the following command:

   fsutil hardlink list c:\windows\explorer.exe

   

3. Copy the “WinSxS” link path to the clipboard. On *this* system, the hard link for explorer.exe is below. It might be different on your computer, depending upon your OS build/version.

   \Windows\WinSxS\amd64_microsoft-windows-explorer_31bf3856ad364e35_10.0.22621.608_none_b3fd0d5042b63bbd\explorer.exe

Next, set the explorer.exe hard link as the Shell process.

4. Start Regedit.exe and go to:

   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon

5. Double-click “Shell” and set its data as follows:

   C:\Windows\WinSxS\amd64_microsoft-windows-explorer_31bf3856ad364e35_10.0.22621.608_none_b3fd0d5042b63bbd\explorer.exe

   

6. Exit the Registry Editor.
7. Restart Explorer via Task Manager, or log off and log back into your account.

You should see the fully functional ribbon UI when you open a folder.

C:\Windows\WinSxS\amd64_microsoft-windows-explorer_31bf3856ad364e35_10.0.22621.608_none_b3fd0d5042b63bbd\explorer.exe

Option 2: Setting the Explorer Shell Using a Script

To automate the procedure in “Option 1”, you can download and run the VBScript file set_winlogon_shell.vbs. The script finds the explorer.exe hardlink and updates the Winlogon\Shell registry value automatically.

1. Save the script to a folder — e.g., D:\Scripts\set_winlogon_shell.vbs
2. Double-click to run the script.
3. Click Yes when the script shows the following output:

   Instead, if you click No, you need to log off and log back in or restart the Explorer shell. This is an important step.

If a future cumulative update changes the explorer.exe hard link, the Explorer shell may not load during login. In that case, simply launch Task Manager by pressing Ctrl + Shift + Esc, and re-run the script.

reg add "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon" /v "Shell" /d "explorer.exe" /t REG_SZ /f

Script Contents

Method 3: Use “ExplorerPatcher”

ExplorerPatcher (open-source) is a third-party program that brings Windows 10 features back into Windows 11.

Download ExplorerPatcher (GitHub)

You can see the list of features on this page:

All features · valinet/ExplorerPatcher Wiki

This tool can bring back the Windows 10 ribbon interface in Windows 11 and hide the Windows 11 command bar.

Method 4: Use “StartAllBack”

StartAllBack, another third-party offering, claims to bring back the ribbon UI in Windows 11 File Explorer. This program costs USD 4.99.

You can see the list of StartAllBack’s features or download it from https://www.startallback.com/

Method 5: Replacing ExplorerFrame.dll

Another way to get back the ribbon interface in 22H2 is by replacing ExplorerFrame.dll with the 21H2 version.

This method has the following drawbacks, though:

• The Delete, Permanently Delete, and Paste options would be dimmed out permanently. (Thanks to Freddy and Valerio for noticing this.)
• Running the System File Checker will restore the original version of ExplorerFrame.dll

Follow these steps to replace ExplorerFrame.dll

1. Download ExplorerFrame.dll (21H2 version, zipped) and extract it to the desktop.
2. Launch Command Prompt as TrustedInstaller.
3. Right-click ExplorerFrame.dll (located on your desktop) and click “Copy as Path”.
4. Switch to the Command Prompt window and run these commands:

   cd /d c:\windows\system32
   ren ExplorerFrame.dll ExplorerFrame-orig.dll
   copy <PASTE-FILE-PATH-HERE>

   

5. Exit the Command Prompt window.
6. Launch Task Manager and restart the Explorer shell process. For more information, see Method 2 in the article How to Restart Explorer.exe Cleanly in Windows 11.

The File Explorer ribbon UI is now restored in Windows 11 22H2!

A future cumulative update may restore the original ExplorerFrame.dll version. In that case, please re-do the above steps to get back the ribbon UI in Explorer.

File Info

Original Name	: ExplorerFrame.dll
Company		: Microsoft Corporation
Product		: Microsoft® Windows® Operating System
Prod version	: 10.0.22000.120
File version	: 10.0.22000.120 (WinBuild.160101.0800)
MachineType	: 64-bit
Copyright	: © Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
MD5		: 2A52970886A3CFEE4F1B00A599A00757
SHA1		: 063D1D5CD4D79C29CA5C54159EA8F930014C41BB
SHA256		: FEA27EC6158831A8D9B1C2ECC1C7F41EAD7FE377CA8CE49925DB322F33A6A729
VT detection	: 0/71
VT link		: https://www.virustotal.com/gui/file/fea27ec6158831a8d9b1c2ecc1c7f41ead7fe377ca8ce49925db322f33a6a729/detection

(Last tested in Windows 11 22H2 OS Build 22621.674)

Method 6: Disable the Windows 11 Command Bar (for 21H2 only)

Note: The following methods do not work in Windows 11 22H2.

Option 1: Block the Command Bar Shell extension

1. Start the Registry Editor (regedit.exe)
2. Go to the following branch:

   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Shell Extensions

3. Create a subkey called “Blocked” if it doesn’t exist and select it.
4. In the right-pane, create a new string value (REG_SZ) named “{e2bf9676-5f8f-435c-97eb-11607a5bedf7}”
   
5. Exit the Registry Editor.
6. Log off and log back into your user account, or restart the Explorer shell using Task Manager.

reg add "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Shell Extensions\Blocked" /v {e2bf9676-5f8f-435c-97eb-11607a5bedf7}

Here you go! The classic ribbon with colorful icons is back.

To reverse the changes and go back to the new/modern ribbon in Windows 11’s File Explorer, just delete the {e2bf9676-5f8f-435c-97eb-11607a5bedf7} string you added using the Registry Editor.

Option 2

In this method, we can disable a different GUID [{d93ed569-3b3e-4bff-8355-3c44f6a52bb5}  — File Explorer CommandBar View Adapter] which will disable the modern ribbon UI and bring back the classic ribbon.

• From a Command Prompt window, execute this command:

  reg add "HKCU\Software\Classes\CLSID\{d93ed569-3b3e-4bff-8355-3c44f6a52bb5}\InprocServer32" /d "" /f

• Log off and log back in for the change to take effect. Or restart the Explorer shell.

This restores the classic ribbon in File Explorer.

Note that this method works on a per-user basis.

If you want to reverse the above setting, run this command:

reg delete "HKCU\Software\Classes\CLSID\{d93ed569-3b3e-4bff-8355-3c44f6a52bb5}" /f

After a logoff-login cycle, the above command restores the default ribbon UI in File Explorer.

(This article has been last reviewed on 30-Jan-2023.)