Microsoft is finally modernizing Windows 11’s decades-old File Explorer properties window with a new UI

For years, Microsoft has wrestled with modernizing the File Explorer app on Windows. Over the last few years, we’ve seen Microsoft slowly introduce modern UI elements across the File Explorer interface. Areas like the top of the app, Home page, and details pane have been modernized with WinUI 3, but the rest of the app has pretty much remained untouched.

This means that the File Explorer experience right now is very fragmented, being shared between decades-old interface design and modern WinUI design. Well, it looks like Microsoft is slowly moving to fix that, as evidence that the company is planning to modernize a pretty major aspect of the File Explorer has now appeared.

First spotted by Phantomofearth on Bluesky, the latest Windows 11 preview build includes a hidden modernized File Properties window that appears when you open properties on a file in the Recycle Bin. This is the only window that’s been discovered so far, but it’s clear that Microsoft is planning to modernize the entire File Properties dialog soon.

This move matches Microsoft’s commitment to bring WinUI to more areas of the Windows Shell. The company confirmed plans to bring WinUI to the Start menu and in-box apps and experiences earlier this year, in an effort to streamline performance and design consistency across the entire Windows UI.