Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 23435 Adds File Explorer Gallery
- Paul Thurrott
- Apr 14, 2023
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A new pre-release build of Windows 11 for the Dev channel of the Windows Insider Program adds a new Gallery view for photos in File Explorer, plus some other small changes.
“Gallery is a new feature in File Explorer designed to make it easy to access your photo collection,” Microsoft explains. “The set of content shown in Gallery is the same as what you’ll see in the All Photos view in the Photos app.”
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Gallery is configured to display your most recent photos at the top, as is the case with Photos. A new Collection button in the File Explorer window displays a drop-down where you can configure which folders that Gallery displays.
Gallery is also available in the Open file dialog, so it will be accessible in most Windows 11 apps too.
Because this is the Windows Insider Program and they can’t not be annoying, Gallery is only beginning to roll out, so some in the Dev channel won’t see it immediately. And this build has a few other changes: Microsoft is still screwing around with advertisements in the Start menu’s profile pop-up menu, you might get the Windows App SDK version of File Explorer (again, a spin of the roulette wheel), and the new presence sensor privacy settings are showing up as they are in the Beta channel.
(Gallery is the second instance that I’m aware of in which Microsoft has taken functionality from the Windows 11 Photos app and transplanted it in another app: the new Microsoft Edge image editing feature is very clearly based on the image editing capabilities in Photos.)