On Windows 11 build 25272, you can now enable a preview of the “Gallery” entry for File Explorer. This new entry on the left navigation page doesn’t introduce anything visually new. Instead, it’s the same “Pictures” entry with a different name in a different location to access your Pictures folder.
The “Gallery” entry, under “Home,” is currently a hidden feature that you must enable manually (via @PhantomOcean3) using a third-party tool called “ViveTool” created by Rafael Rivera and Lucas on GitHub, to enable the option on your computer.
This guide will teach you the steps to turn on this new feature on Windows 11.
Enable Gallery for File Explorer on Windows 11
To enable the Gallery entry on File Explorer, use these steps:
Open GitHub website.
Download the ViveTool-vx.x.x.zip file to enable the Gallery entry.
Double-click the zip folder to open it with File Explorer.
Click the Extract all button.
Click the Extract button.
Copy the path to the folder.
Open Start.
Search for Command Prompt, right-click the top result, and select the Run as administrator option.
Type the following command to navigate to the ViveTool folder and press Enter:
cd c:folderpathViveTool-v0.x.x
In the command, remember to change the path to the folder with your path.
Type the following command to enable the File Explorer Gallery entry and press Enter:
vivetool /enable /id:41040327
Restart the computer.
Once you complete the steps, File Explorer will now include a “Gallery” entry to access your pictures on Windows 11.
If you change your mind, you can revert the changes with the same instructions, but in step 10, make sure to use these commands: vivetool /disable /id:41040327 and then restart the device.
