Windows Shell is an variety of Objects necessary for accessing the resources of the computer as well as the resources of connected devices and networked computers. These resources include applications such as folders and shortcuts, files, printers, Control Panel, and other virtual objects, shell services, and certain UI components.

Windows Shell is the container in which the entire Windows user interface is presented, including the taskbar, the Desktop, Windows Explorer, and many of the dialog boxes and interface controls.


Examples of shell services include file operations, Web and file browsing, drag-and-drop operations, and file and device synchronization.

The availability and functionality of DLLs changed with each version of Windows, although Microsoft changes many GUI controls and looks in every successor of previous windows version.

The Shell is distributed over a number of dynamic link libraries, including these primary DLLs:


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