# Using File Explorer

Navigate Windows folders, show file extensions and hidden files, and read a folder's path two ways.

Novice · Operating System · Software Development · Updated October 29, 2026

## After this lesson you can

- Read a folder's path, go to it with the File Explorer address bar, and write it the Git Bash way
- Show file extensions and hidden items in File Explorer

## Key takeaways

- A path is the full address of a folder or file, such as C:\Users\alex\Downloads. Each backslash separates one folder from the next.
- Type or paste a path into the File Explorer address bar and press Enter to go straight to that folder.
- Turn on file name extensions, so a file named index.html.txt can't pass itself off as index.html.
- Turn on hidden items to see the folders developers need, such as a project's .git folder.
- Git Bash writes the same home folder as /c/Users/alex, or just ~ for short.

**Windows only.** File Explorer is the Windows app for browsing files and folders. A folder is also called a **directory**. The two words mean the same thing in this course.

## Open File Explorer

Press **Windows+E**. Select **Downloads** in the navigation pane on the left to find files you have downloaded.

You can drag and drop files to move them between folders, right-click a file to copy, rename, or delete it, and double-click to open it.

## Read a path

The address bar at the top shows where you are. Click it to see the folder's **path**: the full address of a file or folder.

```text
C:\Users\alex\Downloads
```

`C:` is the drive. Each backslash (`\`) separates one folder from the next. `C:\Users\alex` is your **home folder**, where your own files live. Your username will be different from `alex`.

You can also type or paste a path into the address bar and press **Enter** to go straight to that folder.

## Show file extensions

A file's **extension** is the end of its name after the last period. `.cs` is C# source code, `.java` is Java source code, `.html` is a web page, and `.txt` is plain text. Windows hides extensions by default, which can trick you: a file called `index.html.txt` looks like `index.html` when extensions are hidden.

Turn them on: in File Explorer, select **View > Show > File name extensions**.

## Show hidden items

Some files and folders are hidden because most people never need them. Developers do. For example, Git keeps a project's history in a hidden folder named `.git`.

Select **View > Show > Hidden items**. Hidden files now appear slightly faded.

## The same folder, two ways

In File Explorer, your home folder is `C:\Users\alex`. In Git Bash, the terminal you will install soon, the same folder is written differently:

| Where | How it is written |
|---|---|
| File Explorer | `C:\Users\alex` |
| Git Bash | `/c/Users/alex`, or just `~` (the tilde means "my home folder") |

Git Bash uses forward slashes (`/`), like a Mac or Linux terminal, and writes the drive `C:` as `/c`. It is the same folder either way.

You can jump from the terminal to File Explorer at any time. In Git Bash, this command opens the folder you are in:

```bash
explorer .
```

The `.` means "the folder I am in now".

## Check yourself

2 questions to try on the lesson page.

## So what

Every tool you install from here on reads and writes files in folders. Knowing where a file lives, and what it is really called, saves you a lot of "file not found" trouble later.

## Key terms

- Directory
- [Absolute Path](https://www.ask-codey.com/glossary/absolute-path)
- [File Extension](https://www.ask-codey.com/glossary/file-extension)
- Home Directory

Source: https://www.ask-codey.com/lessons/os-and-terminal-tools-windows-using-file-explorer