23H2 Windows Explorer not showing User Folders (Documents, Downloads, Music, etc)

mingle · Nov 18, 2023

Hi chaps,

Just upgraded my Windows 11 21H2 to 23H2, via the latest ISO from MS.

First thing I noticed is that Windows Explorer has changed fairly significantly.

The big issue for me is that my user folders (Documents, Downloads, Music, Pictures and Videos) have now gone from the left-side navigation-pane (aside from quick-access, which I'll be removing soon, along with the "Home" and "Gallery" items).

In my previous install, they were all present, as expandable 'trees' under "this PC" in the left pane. See the attached images - one shows my old 21H2 setup and the other what I get after the upgrade.

I've tried enabling the "Folder Options > View > Show all folders" option, but this results in a massive list of irrelevant stuff - I just want my 5 user-folders back!

Is there any way (as yet) to resolve this and put it back to the way it was?

Cheers,

Mike.

Ghot · Nov 18, 2023

@mingle

This should help...

Add or Remove Folders under This PC in File Explorer in Windows 11 Tutorial

This tutorial will show you how to add or remove the 3D Objects, Desktop, Documents, Downloads, Music, Pictures, and/or Videos folder(s) under This PC in File Explorer for all users in Windows 11. Starting with Windows 11 build 25136 and build 22621.160 for some, Microsoft is introducing a...

www.elevenforum.com

You can do them all at once , or do just the ones you want.

And if you need it...

Add or Remove Home in Navigation Pane of File Explorer in Windows 11 Tutorial

This tutorial will show you how to add or remove Home in the navigation pane of File Explorer for all users in Windows 11. Quick access in the navigation pane of File Explorer (Win+E) allows you to quickly access and view your pinned locations, frequent folders, and recent files from one...

www.elevenforum.com

More common tweaks...

Windows 11 Tweaks - Leader Board.

These are tweaks I've seen asked for... many times. They are collected here for easy access. All of these and more can be found in the Eleven Forum Tutorials Classic context menus... https://www.elevenforum.com/t/disable-show-more-options-context-menu-in-windows-11.1589/ Change...

www.elevenforum.com

POLYSIUS · Nov 18, 2023

I have one question to your C-Partition. Is it really just 53 GB? I have a C-Drive with 60 GB and it refuses updates with the comment that the min-size should be 65 GB! I know that this is a precondition for WIN 11. But why do they allow to run a setup and then they refuse updates?
Free space is 32 GB. That is more than you have.

REG
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\Setup\LabConfig]
"BypassStorageCheck"=dword:00000001
"BypassDiskCheck"=dword:00000001
doesn't help as well

mingle · Nov 18, 2023

POLYSIUS said:
I have one question to your C-Partition. Is it really just 53 GB? I have a C-Drive with 60 GB and it refuses updates with the comment that the min-size should be 65 GB! I know that this is a precondition for WIN 11. But why do they allow to run a setup and then they refuse updates?
Free space is 32 GB. That is more than you have.
/QUOTE]

Yep, I'm really stingy with disk-space allocation (which has gotten me into trouble a few times in the past!).

I don't have much installed aside from a web-browser, Office 2003, Paintshop Pro 10 a few other bits and pieces. I usually try to have around 50% free-space.

This system (which is not officially compatible with Win 11) was originally running Windows 10, with a 40GB partition, which I had to resize a bit to get it to upgrade to Win 11.

It upgraded fine to Win 11 21H2 (had around 23GB free-space). Then I upgraded to 23H2 a few days ago, without any issues.

Not sure why you're having issues, but you're right: why the hell does it not warn you at the very start of the upgrade process?

I had to run a script to bypass my missing TPM, maybe that also bypasses free-space-checking, I'm not sure?

Cheers,

Mike.