Windows 11 course

Windows 11 Lesson 3

File Explorer Basics and Location Awareness

First-time setup and success checks

Lesson goal in plain language: Open File Explorer, understand its major areas, and keep track of the current folder.

Prepare before step 1

  1. Open the correct application, website, or device screen and wait for its name to be announced.
  2. Open Windows 11 and File Explorer manual and review the matching procedure if any command or term is unfamiliar.
  3. Use only fictional, public, disposable, or instructor-provided practice information. Make a copy before changing an important file.
  4. Read all numbered instructions once before performing them so you know the intended final result.

Commands used or referenced

Windows+E, Ctrl+L, Escape, F6, Tab, Shift+Tab, Enter, Alt+Left, Alt+Right, Alt+Up, Ctrl+L,, Insert+T, Insert+Tab, Insert+1

For a plus-sign command, hold the modifier key, press and release the final key, then release the modifier. For a sequence, press and release each key in order. Stop after every command and listen for the result.

Work and verify

  1. Perform one numbered instruction and stop. Identify the active window, focused control, selected item, cell, slide, message, field, or device area before continuing.
  2. Compare the result with the lesson goal. A sound alone is not enough; verify the name, state, value, location, permission, or content.
  3. If the result is wrong, press Escape once to leave an unexpected menu, identify focus again, and use Undo only when the change is safely reversible.
  4. Save or synchronize at natural stopping points. Use the required filename Windows-Lesson-3.txt.
  5. Complete the “Before submitting” checklist from top to bottom. Correct missing items before marking the lesson complete.
  6. Close and reopen the practice item, or return to it from the product’s main screen, to prove you can locate and verify the result independently.

Success standard: Explain what each major command did, show the finished result, and recover from one harmless focus or navigation error without another person naming the next key.

Goal

Open File Explorer, understand its major areas, and keep track of the current folder.

Skills practiced

Step-by-step instructions

  1. Press Windows+E to open File Explorer.
  2. Press Ctrl+L to move to the address bar. Listen to or read the current location, then press Escape.
  3. Press F6 repeatedly to move among the content pane, navigation pane, address bar, and command controls.
  4. Use Tab and Shift+Tab to inspect controls within the current area.
  5. Move to the navigation pane and choose Documents without opening unfamiliar cloud or network locations.
  6. In the content pane, use Arrow keys to review items. Press Enter only on a familiar folder.
  7. Press Alt+Left Arrow to return to the previous location and Alt+Right Arrow to go forward.
  8. Press Alt+Up Arrow to move to the folder containing the current folder.
  9. Press Ctrl+L, type %USERPROFILE%\Documents, and press Enter to return to Documents.
  10. Create Windows-Lesson-3.txt explaining the address bar, navigation pane, content pane, and history commands.

Screen-reader help: These lessons work with JAWS and other screen readers. With JAWS, press Insert+T to confirm the active window, Insert+Tab to hear the focused control, and Insert+1 to toggle Keyboard Help. Windows features and labels can vary slightly after updates.

Your assignment

Write a File Explorer orientation guide that helps another keyboard user confirm where they are.

Save the finished assignment as Windows-Lesson-3.txt. DOCX, PDF, and BRF versions are also accepted.

Before submitting