Solved Problem with Explorer

sidr · Dec 9, 2022

Thanks. WinaeroTweaker sounds too tricky for amateur me.
Is "Show All Folders/Expand to current folder thing!" the same as "3 dots, then Options, View, Navigation Pane, then tick on Expand to open folder"?

sidr · Dec 9, 2022

Also I googled and found:

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

It seems ok, ie download Add_all_folders_to_This_PC_in_File_Explorer.reg
but am nervous to change registry.
Is this ok?

Edwin · Dec 9, 2022

sidr said:
Is "Show All Folders/Expand to current folder thing!" the same as "3 dots, then Options, View, Navigation Pane, then tick on Expand to open folder"?

Yup!
Or just right click an empty spot in the Navigation Pane...

Edwin · Dec 9, 2022

sidr said:
It seems ok, ie download Add_all_folders_to_This_PC_in_File_Explorer.reg
but am nervous to change registry.
Is this ok?

~~That's not what you're looking for!~~

Scratch that!!! It is what you're looking for!

Edwin · Dec 9, 2022

sidr said:
It seems ok, ie download Add_all_folders_to_This_PC_in_File_Explorer.reg
but am nervous to change registry.
Is this ok?

It'll be fine! Follow the instructions carefully. Option Two has the resources to undo whatever you do.

Dru2 · Dec 9, 2022

Edwin said:
I better bow out of this conversation cuz I'm not using that wanky W11 Explorer!

It kills me to see how people who don't use Explorer try to tell people how to solve Explorer problems

glasskuter · Dec 9, 2022

Post #3 is the solution to this.

Edwin · Dec 9, 2022

Dru2 said:
It kills me to see how people who don't use Explorer try to tell people how to solve Explorer problems

Feck it then! It's all yours! Least I tried!

sidr · Dec 9, 2022

Thanks, I downloaded and ran Add_all_folders_to_This_PC_in_File_Explorer.reg
It seems ok, in that it created a 2nd lot of folders, but..
-not under This PC, and
-now there is no Video/Music folders - admitted they were empty, but I may have used them later - no matter.
Anyway better than before.
Thanks all
I will mark as solved

Dru2 · Dec 9, 2022

sidr said:
I will give an example...
Say I have downloaded a pdf, which appears in Download folder (or a subfolder of it).
I want to move (or click and drag) the pdf to a sub-folder within Pictures folder.
On my old PC, I would first go to This PC, Pictures then open Pictures, and specify open which sub folder I would to move to.
Then I would go up to Quick Access, Download folder, then drag the PDF file down to This PC, straight into waiting folder. Easy!
This has always worked in Win 10, and in older versions of Win 11.

But with new PC with latest Win 11:
-The Quick Access folders (eg Pictures) are there, and I can open sub-folders too. Good. Note I can't have 2 sub-folders open concurrently in Quick Access eg if I have Downloads folder open, and I then go to Documents, it will close Downloads sub-folders.. so both can't be open... so I need somewhere else ie This PC.
-The folders (eg Pictures) are no longer in This PC, so I can't open and prepare the target folder.

If I can't explain this to you, I'm sorry, and I will settle for the semi-ok solution.
ie 3 dots, then Options, View, Navigation Pane, then tick on "Expand to open folder".

If running 22H2 build why not use tabs? Then navigate between the tabbed folders and navigation tree to drag and drop. You can also drag and drop between tabs.

Reading what you posted above just seems to require too many unnecessary steps.

Dru2 · Dec 9, 2022

Edwin said:
Feck it then! It's all yours! Least I tried!

Cmon @Edwin. Not the end of the world. But yeah, if you're not using Explorer, you may not know all the other options available. That's all I'm saying. It would be like me trying to troubleshoot an AMD BIOS setup build when all I know is Intel.

All good bro. I mean no harm

At any rate, I'm not even sure I have an answer for the OP as I'm not even clear what the issue is. Seems to me what I posted based on my use of Win 11's Explorer would be easier than what the OP posted, but....

BTW....

sidr said:
On my old PC, I would first go to This PC,

What OS was the "old PC" running?

sidr · Dec 9, 2022

BTW....
"3 dots, then Options, View, Navigation Pane, then tick on Expand to open folder"
does the same as
Add_all_folders_to_This_PC_in_File_Explorer.reg

... except the former doesn't remove empty Videos/Music folders from Explorer.

sidr · Dec 9, 2022

Actually, I also ticked on "show all folders" (directly beneath in View) and I got my missing Music/Videos folders back. Yay!

sidr · Dec 9, 2022

So to summarise everything:
In Win 11 File Explorer , if This PC has no Pictures/Videos/Downloads/Documents/Music folders, then
-click on 3 dots at top, then Options, View, scroll down to Navigation Pane
-tick on "Expand to open folder" and "Show all folders"
NB
1) I advise against "Add_all_folders_to_This_PC_in_File_Explorer.reg", as it removes above folders that are empty. Restarting Explorer doesn't help.
2) The folders may not end up under This PC - mine ended up below Quick Access and above This PC. That is fine - the main thing is you have 2 copies of key folders in Explorer - very helpful when moving files to sub folders of the above key folders.
Thank you all for your help.

CharmaineK · Dec 10, 2022

Pin C:users to Quick Access.

sidr · Dec 10, 2022

In Explorer...
-I entered c:users at address bar, but error.
-I entered c:\users\<name>, no error, and pinned Videos and Music. Great!
Combining that with "3 dots at top, then Options, View, scroll down to Navigation Pane... tick on "Expand to open folder"
... it seems all fine now, thanks.

Edwin · Dec 10, 2022

Dru2 said:
... if you're not using Explorer...

I'm using the same Explorer everybody else is, chief.

My apologies though!
I was in too much of a hurry and did not give clear direction!

Edwin · Dec 10, 2022

One thing I was going to mention, yesterday:
It's often been said that Drag N Drop is a potentially risky way to move files, for fear of accidentally dropping them in the wrong folder.

If you add Brinks Add 'Copy To/Move To' to the context menu and have applied the aforementioned tutorial, the folders do show up under This PC in the Move To dialog box as well!

sidr · Dec 10, 2022

Thanks again, to all.

sidr · Dec 10, 2022

Just another lesser issue with File Explorer...
In Win10 and earlier, to rename a file required one right-click, then Rename. Nice and quick.
In Win11, I now need to right-click, then click again on "Show more options", then Rename. Is there a faster way?