File explorer show branch lines in the directory tree

Question

It would be nice if MS would bring back the lines that showed which folders were in which folders. Windows 3.0 did this. The tabs and you can look at multiple drives in one tree but multiple drives exacerbates the tree branch lines.

Answer 1

Hi robert lapsley,

Thank you for reaching out to Microsoft Q&A forum. I understand what you’re describing. Older versions of Windows, like Windows 3.x, showed connecting lines in the folder tree, which made it much easier to see how folders and drives related to each other, especially with multiple drives expanded.

In the current versions of Windows (Windows 10 and Windows 11), File Explorer no longer includes those visual “branch” lines in the navigation pane. At the moment, there isn’t a setting or supported option to restore them, as the navigation pane now relies on indentation and expand/collapse arrows instead. I can understand how this makes it harder to visually follow the folder structure, particularly if you manage a lot of folders or drives.

That said, there are a couple of options that may help make navigation a bit clearer. Open File Explorer, right‑click on an empty space in the left navigation pane and select "Show all folders" can display the full folder hierarchy in the left pane and enable “Expand to current folder” helps keep the tree focused on where you’re working so it doesn’t feel as disorienting when you move between folders.

I’d also really encourage sharing this feedback through the Feedback Hub (press Windows + F). Feedback like yours, especially when it explains how an older design helped productivity does get reviewed by the product team and can influence future improvements.

Thank you for your patience and for taking the time to share your experience.

Best regards.

Answer 2

Windows Explorer’s folder tree and the underlying Shell tree view control no longer expose an option to draw classic “branch lines” between parent and child folders, and the provided context contains no API or setting to re-enable that behavior.

Modern Explorer uses a tree view optimized for large namespaces and focuses on expand/collapse, selection, and navigation rather than line-drawing customization. The tree view area in Explorer is described as hosting a standard tree view control that shows folders and their hierarchy, but only operations like expanding/collapsing, copying/moving, and requesting icons and display names via IShellFolder are documented; there is no documented flag or style to restore the old line connectors.

For custom applications, a hierarchy can still be displayed using:

• Win32 tree-view controls for hierarchical lists.
• Windows Forms TreeView control, which supports hierarchical nodes, icons, and expand/collapse behavior.

However, the context does not document any property or style on these controls that would affect Explorer’s own folder tree or globally restore branch lines in File Explorer.

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References:

• About Tree-View Controls
• TreeView Control (Windows Forms)
• TreeView Control Overview (Windows Forms)
• Developing with Windows Explorer
• Understanding Shell Namespace Extensions
• File Explorer in Windows