Open a file

Step by step

1. Click the Start button! Look at the bottom of this practice computer: the dark strip there is its taskbar. In the middle of it, click the Start button (four blue squares). The main menu opens just above it. If you see two taskbars, use the one inside this page.
2. Click "File Explorer". In the menu that opened, click the "File Explorer" tile (a square with a small picture and its name under it): the app opens in its own window.
3. Open "Documents". In the column on the left of the File Explorer window (the list of your places), click "Documents". The big area on the right then shows what is inside that folder.
4. Double-click a text file. In the big list on the right, find a file whose name ends in ".txt", for example "Shopping list.txt". Double-click it (press the left button twice, quickly): it opens in Notepad.
5. Close this window. You are done with this window, so close it: click the ✕ button at the top right corner of the "Notepad" window (on its title bar, the strip at the top). The window disappears.
6. Close this window. You are done with this window, so close it: click the ✕ button at the top right corner of the "File Explorer" window (on its title bar, the strip at the top). The window disappears.

These steps are written for SafePC, a pretend Windows-style computer in your web browser. On your own computer, the buttons and menus may look a little different, but the idea is the same.

More lessons in Files and folders

• Explore File Explorer
• Create a folder on the desktop
• Tidy up: create a folder
• Rename a folder or a file
• Delete an item
• Get an item back from the Recycle Bin