Best practice to Add a custom folder to the Explorer Navigation Pane?

starbuck · Sep 11, 2023

I'm migrating from Dropbox to SynologyDrive and one of the features that is very helpful with Dropbox is that it adds itself as folder to the Explorer Navigation Pane so that you can easily have the folder tree accessible/expanded from an Explorer window. I can't figure out how to add a custom folder to this part of the navigation pane. I don't want to pin it to Quick Access as that doesn't give you an expandable tree inside the navigation pane.

I think Win Aero Tweaker could do this in Windows 10, but I haven't tested in Windows 11. Also, I always prefer to do things manually without adding another utility to my system if I can avoid it.

Anyone else doing this and, if so, what's best practice to achieve it that will also persist through regular Windows updates?

Spunk · Sep 11, 2023

Enable Demand Sync Synology Community

starbuck · Sep 11, 2023

That gives you a link in the Navigation Pane, but it doesn't give you an expandable file tree like Dropbox does.

Spunk · Sep 11, 2023

Post your question in the Synology Community Forum, you will have better luck there then here

starbuck · Sep 12, 2023

Spunk said:
Post your question in the Synology Community Forum, you will have better luck there then here

That doesn't seem appropriate as this is really a windows issue. Let's forget synology, what if I want to add a custom folder to the navigate pane so that it has an expandable file tree....Dropbox clearly has figured out a way to do it as Dropbox is not installed as a 'drive'

hdmi · Sep 12, 2023

starbuck said:
I'm migrating from Dropbox to SynologyDrive and one of the features that is very helpful with Dropbox is that it adds itself as folder to the Explorer Navigation Pane so that you can easily have the folder tree accessible/expanded from an Explorer window. I can't figure out how to add a custom folder to this part of the navigation pane. I don't want to pin it to Quick Access as that doesn't give you an expandable tree inside the navigation pane.

I think Win Aero Tweaker could do this in Windows 10, but I haven't tested in Windows 11. Also, I always prefer to do things manually without adding another utility to my system if I can avoid it.

Add custom folders or Control Panel applets to Navigation Pane in File Explorer

The ability to customize the navigation pane area was what many users wanted in modern versions of Windows. Here is how it can be done.

winaero.com

I'd hate to do it manually, but you can try as others have done:

Add specific folders to Navigation Pane - Windows 10 Help Forums

Win10 Home x64 build 18363.836 Hello! With a lot of help from you all and many tutorials, I got my new Win10 system up and running, and set (for the most part) the way I like it. A few things I have not been able to find tutorials on (I'm sure they exist,

www.tenforums.com

starbuck said:
Anyone else doing this

Yes

starbuck said:
and, if so, what's best practice to achieve it that will also persist through regular Windows updates?

That depends on what exactly it is that you mean when you say "regular Windows updates". With these kinds of registry tweaks there's always going to be a good chance that it will be broken one day, like, after a Windows Cumulative Update is installed. When dealing with Windows, always remember to replenish the stockroom where your duct tape is stored: