4 ways to share files between your PCs

And a classic tool hidden right under your nose  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ [Windows Intelligence](#) [Windows Intelligence](#) Brought to you by: �€‹ Hey! This week, I'm thinking about Windows 7. Specifically, I'm thinking of the HomeGroup feature in Windows 7. The humble HomeGroup was a revelation back then, ushering in an era of simple-to-set-up file sharing between PCs. Unfortunately, Microsoft removed HomeGroups years ago. Things are a little more complex now, but I have some quick-and-easy ways to share files between your PCs. 👉 Before we get to the good stuff, one final reminder: We're down to the last few days to claim one of the remaining spaces in my [Intelligence Insider club]( along with Paul Thurrott's Thurrott Premium program — with [a special coupon for $20 off the normal rate](=), just for you as a valued subscriber. I'd love to have you join me and boost your newsletter with a lot of perks (including an upgraded and ad-free edition of this newsletter!). More importantly, you'll be helping support my work so I can continue devoting my time to writing for you — as an independent voice without any corporate beast behind me. (I'm sure I don't have to tell you what that ownership model has done to the web we all know and love.) And you'd be helping support Paul Thurrott in exactly the same way. ➜ [Claim your spot before the end of Sunday](. After that, the coupon expires and the gates will close until later this year. 🤝 Thanks in advance for your support! [Chris Hoffman, AUthor] Chris Today's read: ⌚ 3 Things to Know: 2 minutes ⌚ 3 Things to Try: 1 minute 30 seconds ⌚ Top Thurrott Thoughts: 30 seconds ⌚ Just for Fun: 30 seconds ​ [] [3 Things to Know This Week] ​ 1. Windows 10 security updates now have a price ➜ THE SHORT VERSION: Windows 10 PCs will stop getting security updates next year, and you'll have to pay to keep getting updates. Microsoft just announced pricing for these updates — but only for businesses and schools. 🔎 KNOW MORE: Windows 10 will stop getting security updates on October 14, 2025 unless you pay a subscription fee. Traditionally, only businesses could pay to keep getting updates. Consumers will be able to pay, too — but Microsoft still hasn't announced how much the average person will pay. - Businesses will pay $61 per PC for the first year, doubling to $122 for the second year, doubling again to $244 for the third year. - Schools will get a big discount: $1 the first year, doubling to $2 the second year, doubling to $4 the year after that. - Microsoft's communication was confusing, and many websites reported that the business price also applied to consumers. Microsoft later updated its announcement to say that consumer pricing would be revealed at a later date. 📌 READ MORE: See [all the details](). (Or check out my list of [other ways to keep your Windows 10 PC alive]( for alternatives to paying.) --------------------------------------------------------------- 2. Windows 11's update roadmap has leaked ➜ THE SHORT VERSION: Leaked details reported by Windows Central give us an idea of the strange things going on with Windows 11 updates this year. 🔎 KNOW MORE: Microsoft and PC manufacturers will launch a wave of ARM-powered Windows PCs in the coming months. But those PCs will need Windows 11's 24H2 update — planned for final release in the fall — to work. - Microsoft is about to deliver an early version of the 24H2 update to manufacturers so they can launch PCs with it. But this is just the "underlying platform" without big new features. - The company will announce the AI experiences coming to Windows on May 20. All those fancy new ARM-powered "AI PCs" won't include the new AI features when they ship. - The final version of the 24H2 update will roll out for PCs starting in September 2024. That's when the long-awaited AI features will actually start showing up. 📌 READ MORE: Windows Central [details the timetable and features to expect](). --------------------------------------------------------------- 3. Drag and drop will return to File Explorer on Windows 11 ➜ THE SHORT VERSION: Windows 11's last File Explorer update removed the ability to drag and drop files to File Explorer's address bar. Now, Microsoft is testing an update that will bring the feature back 🔎 KNOW MORE: The drag and drop feature vanished from the address bar in the last big rewrite of File Explorer's interface. - Microsoft keeps recreating parts of Windows from the ground up, resulting in missing features: Windows 11 shipped without drag-and-drop support for the taskbar, too. That feature was also restored in an update. - This feature will hopefully land on all Windows 11 PCs sometime this year — it could be in the next few months, or it could be in the fall. - Windows 11's File Explorer will also get the labels back in its context menu — you'll see the words "Cut," "Copy," and "Paste" instead of those mysterious little unlabeled icons when you right-click. 📌 READ MORE: Take a look at [this article about the change](. SPONSORED MESSAGE Readers: Don’t settle for biased news ❌ [Spinning head](​ Talking media heads, political spin, biased headlines… *sigh* Don’t you wish “the news” was purely objective? ​[Welcome to 1440](. Born out of a desire for no-BS journalism, 1440 delivers ~refreshingly~ unbiased news stories to your inbox daily. The 1440 humans (not AI) sift through 100+ sources per day, picking out today’s most important news so you don’t have to. From business to politics to world affairs, it’s all written to be as [unbiased as humanly possible.](​ “1440 is the single best news curator, period. Absolutely no bias. I don’t need anyone’s opinion, I can form my own!” - Amy ➜ [Skip the noise and join 3 million 1440 readers for FREE](​ [​​​​​READ TODAY’S NEWS IN 5 MINUTES! ➜]( ​ [] [3 Things to Try This Week] 1. Share files between your Windows PCs, the easy ways Once upon a time, Windows had a convenient "HomeGroup" feature that let you easily share files between the PCs on your home network. But that was back in the days of Windows 7 — Microsoft removed that feature in Windows 10, and things have been a little confusing ever since. ➜ You can still conveniently share files between Windows PCs. Microsoft wants you to use its OneDrive cloud storage for this, but there's also a convenient and little-used local-transfer tool buried in Windows. And, you can even use traditional, HomeGroup-style network file sharing with a little more configuration. ⌚ You can set some of these methods up in 15 to 30 seconds. 💻 This works on both Windows 10 and Windows 11. 📌 Here are [the best ways to share files between Windows PCs](. --------------------------------------------------------------- 2. Get the old File Explorer back Windows 11's new File Explorer interface is very controversial. If you prefer the old one, though, it's still hidden in Windows 11. ➜ The File Explorer interface from Windows 10 is only a few clicks away whenever you want it. You can even make it your default File Explorer experience. ⌚ Finding the old File Explorer will take you 5 seconds. 💻 This only works on Windows 11. (Windows 10 always has it!) All you need to do is open the Control Panel on Windows 11 and click the Up arrow on the toolbar — that's it! [Click the "Up" arrow on the Control Panel window's toolbar.] 📌 To see how it works — and learn how to restore the old File Explorer interface — check out [this quick article from Thurrott.com](. --------------------------------------------------------------- 3. Use the Task Manager's hidden system-monitor tricks The Windows Task Manager is full of useful options. In particular, it offers a convenient, always-on-screen way to monitor CPU usage, memory consumption, disk reads and writes, and whatever else you might be interested in seeing. ➜ These features are easy to miss. You have to know what to double-click in just the right way. ⌚ You can try this out in 5 seconds. 💻 This works on both Windows 10 and Windows 11. 📌 Discover how to do it in [my latest quick guide](. ​ [] [Top Thurrott Thoughts] Some standout links and expert analysis from our friends at Thurrott, who have been covering Windows since 1994: - ​[Microsoft Engineer Thwarts Backdoor Attack … in Linux]() - The backdoor is a worst-case scenario for open-source software. - ​[Understanding Windows 11 Version 24H2 (Premium)](=) - Demystifying what's going on with the big "AI update." - ​[The Internet’s Oldest Living Dinosaur Buys Artifact](=) - The standalone AI news app is gone. - ​[New Windows 11 Taskbar Experiment is a Throwback to Windows 10]() - What's old is new again. - ​[Intel’s Chip-Making Business Lost $7 Billion in 2023](=) - It's in the middle of a big business shift. - ​[Arc Browser is a Revelation on the Mac (Premium)]() - Sounds like it's way better on Mac than on Windows. ​ [And Just for Funsies...] It was just April Fools' Day, and it was pretty tame in tech. Tech companies have largely stopped pushing April Fools' Day jokes as hard as they used to — especially after jokes like [Google's Minions prank in Gmail](=) actually caused problems for some of its customers in 2016. Microsoft [banned April Fools' Day pranks](=) in 2019. So, if you want interesting Microsoft April Fools' Day jokes, you'll have to revisit the past. Neowin has a look at some [past April Fools' Day gags from Microsoft](=), including when Microsoft added Clippy back to the web-based version of Word ten years ago. The company also announced "[SmartClippy]() — the smart paperclip that connects everything in your life" back then. "SmartClippy makes it easy to attach anything to “The Cloud.”" -Microsoft Clippy really is the one thing Microsoft can't seem to leave behind. That paperclip will be with us forever! Until next time... That's all for now. I'll be back in your inbox next week! And remember: Just a few days left to claim your spot in [my Intelligence Insider club]( — along with a Thurrott Premium Membership — and avoid losing your [special coupon for $20 off the normal rate](=). ➜ [Come join the crew](, upgrade your Windows PC intelligence, and enjoy an incredible, ad-free experience with on-demand access to amazing resources — all while supporting my work and allowing this type of independent journalism to continue. You'll be supporting Paul Thurrott's work, too. 🤚 Wait! Before you go: What'd you think of this issue? [Thumbs Up]( [Thumbs Down]() Hit the thumbs-up or thumbs-down to cast your vote and let me know. Want less email? [Update your reading preferences](=) to opt out of any individual publications or unsubscribe entirely. New here and not yet subscribed? Take two seconds to [sign up for our newsletters](): Windows Intelligence, Android Intelligence, or Cool Tools (or all three!). Hungry for even more? [Become an Intelligence Insider](=) to gain access to our one-of-a-kind community, power-packed advanced resources, an on-demand help desk, and tons of free apps and services. Independent journalism relies on you. 🤝 [Upgrade to an Intelligence Insider membership](=) to support our work and keep this newsletter sustainable!