General Clear and Reset Quick Access Folders in Windows 11


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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 location in Quick Access.

You can Pin to Quick access and Unpin from Quick access items. These locations include local and network files files (build 22557), folders, drives, libraries, OneDrive, This PC, Recycle Bin, etc...

Folders pinned to Quick access will display under Folders in Quick access in File Explorer, and under Quick access in the navigation pane of File Explorer.

Folders you pin or unpin for Quick access will also be pinned or unpinned in the jump list of File Explorer on the taskbar and Start menu.

Clearing and resetting Quick access folders will remove all frequent and pinned folders in Quick access, and restore the default pinned Desktop, Downloads, Documents, and Pictures folders in Quick access and File Explorer jump list. This can be helpful if you are having issues using Pin to Quick access, Unpin from Quick access, or you just wanted to clear and reset Quick access folders back to default.

Starting with Windows 11 build 22593, Quick access is now called Home. The name Quick access has been repurposed for the pinned/frequent Folders section, and Pinned files is now called Favorites to align with Office and OneDrive. Recent and pinned files displayed in Home are now searchable using the search box in File Explorer even if they are not local files, so you can find Office files recently shared with you.

This tutorial will show you how to clear and reset Quick access frequent folders back to default for your account in Windows 10 and Windows 11.


Contents

  • Option One: Clear and Reset Quick Access Folders in Command Prompt
  • Option Two: Clear and Reset Quick Access Folders in File Explorer


EXAMPLE: Quick access folders and Pinned folders on File Explorer jump list before and after clear and reset

Quick_access_before_reset.png
Quick_access_after_reset.png


File_Explorer_jump_list_before_reset.jpg
File_Explorer_jump_list_after_reset.jpg





Option One

Clear and Reset Quick Access Folders in Command Prompt


1 Open Windows Terminal, and select Command Prompt.

2 Copy and paste the command below into the command prompt, and press Enter. (see screenshot below)

del /f /s /q /a "%AppData%\Microsoft\Windows\Recent\AutomaticDestinations\f01b4d95cf55d32a.automaticDestinations-ms"

3 You can now close the command prompt if you like.

Reset_Quick_access_folders_command.png





Option Two

Clear and Reset Quick Access Folders in File Explorer


1 Open File Explorer (Win+E).

2 Perform the following actions. (see screenshot below)
  • Click/tap on the icon to the left in the address bar of File Explorer.
  • Copy and paste %AppData%\Microsoft\Windows\Recent\AutomaticDestinations into the address bar, and press Enter.
3 Delete (Ctrl+D) the f01b4d95cf55d32a.automaticDestinations-ms file in the AutomaticDestinations folder.

4 You can now close File Explorer if you like.

Reset_Quick_access_folders_File_Explorer.png



That's it,
Shawn Brink


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ddelo

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Hi Shawn :)

Thanking you for the great tutorial, please allow me to recommend a third option to Clear Quick Access folders, while preserving any user pinned Folders.
In that way only the system added recent Folders will be cleared, whereas any user pinned Folders will remain intact.
Please mind you, that this method doesn't break the newly added (Build 22000.527) weather content at the left side of the taskbar.

The only thing needed is to run in Terminal, in an elevated PowerShell tab, the following Commands (someone can also put them in a ps1 file and run it as a script!)

Powershell: 
# Clear unpinned folders from Quick Access, using the Verbs() method
$RecentQuickAccessFolders = (0,0)
While ($RecentQuickAccessFolders) {
    $RecentQuickAccessFolders = (((New-Object -ComObject Shell.Application).Namespace("shell:::{679f85cb-0220-4080-b29b-5540cc05aab6}").Items() |
    where IsFolder -eq $true).Verbs() | where Name -Match "Remove from Quick access")
    If ($RecentQuickAccessFolders) { $RecentQuickAccessFolders.DoIt() }
}
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11 Pro x64
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    DELL Precision 3560
    CPU
    Intel® Core™ i7-1165G7 (Tiger Lake)
    Motherboard
    DELL 004N73 / UEFI Ver. 1.18.1
    Memory
    SK Hynix 16GB DDR4 3200MHz SDRAM
    Graphics Card(s)
    intel® iRIS® Xe Graphics / NVIDIA T500 2GB GDDR6 SDRAM
    Sound Card
    Realtek HD Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    15.6"
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080 IPS
    Hard Drives
    Internal: KIOXIA BG4 Series 512 GB PCIe® NVMe™ M.2 SSD
    External: 2 x WD Passport 2TB USB 3.0, 1 x Toshiba 500GB USB 3.0
    Keyboard
    Standard laptop backlit keyboard with numeric keypad
    Mouse
    hp wheel mouse
    Browser
    MS Edge Chromium
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    MS Windows Defender
    Other Info
    DELL USB slim Optical Drive DW316
    Macrium Reflect v8 (backup and.... lifesaver)
Superfly

Superfly

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ddelo said:
Hi Shawn :)

Thanking you for the great tutorial, please allow me to recommend a third option to Clear Quick Access folders, while preserving any user pinned Folders.
In that way only the system added recent Folders will be cleared, whereas any user pinned Folders will remain intact.
Please mind you, that this method doesn't break the newly added (Build 22000.527) weather content at the left side of the taskbar.

The only thing needed is to run in Terminal, in an elevated PowerShell tab, the following Commands (someone can also put them in a ps1 file and run it as a script!)

Powershell: 
# Clear unpinned folders from Quick Access, using the Verbs() method
$RecentQuickAccessFolders = (0,0)
While ($RecentQuickAccessFolders) {
    $RecentQuickAccessFolders = (((New-Object -ComObject Shell.Application).Namespace("shell:::{679f85cb-0220-4080-b29b-5540cc05aab6}").Items() |
    where IsFolder -eq $true).Verbs() | where Name -Match "Remove from Quick access")
    If ($RecentQuickAccessFolders) { $RecentQuickAccessFolders.DoIt() }
}
Click to expand...
Nice one Dmitri, haven't tested it but I like the PS code.
 

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  • OS
    Windows
ddelo

ddelo

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Superfly said:
Nice one Dmitri, haven't tested it but I like the PS code.
Click to expand...
Thanks Craig! :wink:
Please whenever you find time give it a try and let us know!
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11 Pro x64
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    DELL Precision 3560
    CPU
    Intel® Core™ i7-1165G7 (Tiger Lake)
    Motherboard
    DELL 004N73 / UEFI Ver. 1.18.1
    Memory
    SK Hynix 16GB DDR4 3200MHz SDRAM
    Graphics Card(s)
    intel® iRIS® Xe Graphics / NVIDIA T500 2GB GDDR6 SDRAM
    Sound Card
    Realtek HD Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    15.6"
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080 IPS
    Hard Drives
    Internal: KIOXIA BG4 Series 512 GB PCIe® NVMe™ M.2 SSD
    External: 2 x WD Passport 2TB USB 3.0, 1 x Toshiba 500GB USB 3.0
    Keyboard
    Standard laptop backlit keyboard with numeric keypad
    Mouse
    hp wheel mouse
    Browser
    MS Edge Chromium
    Antivirus
    MS Windows Defender
    Other Info
    DELL USB slim Optical Drive DW316
    Macrium Reflect v8 (backup and.... lifesaver)
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