General Remove Folder or Drive from Library in Windows 11


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Libraries_banner.png

This tutorial will show you how to remove a included folder or drive from a library for your account in Windows 11.

Windows 7 introduced libraries, which provide users with a single, coherent view of their files even when those files are stored in different locations. Libraries can be configured and organized by a user and a library can contain folders that are found on the user's computer and also folders that have been shared over a network. Libraries present a simpler view of the underlying storage system because, to the user, the files and folders in a library are displayed in one single view location, no matter where they are actually physically stored.

In File Explorer, users interact with libraries in ways similar to how they would interact with other folders. Libraries are built upon the legacy known folders (such as Camera Roll, Documents, Music, Pictures, Saved Pictures, and Videos), and these known folders are automatically included in the default libraries and set as the default save location.

References:


Removing an included folder or drive from a library does not delete the folder/drive or the contents of the folder/drive.




Here's How:

1 Open Libraries in File Explorer (Win+E).

2 Perform one of the following actions: (see screenshots below)
  • Select the library (ex: "Pictures") you want to remove a folder or drive from, click/tap on the See more (3 dots) button on the command bar, and click/tap on Properties.
  • Right click or press and hold on the library (ex: "Pictures") you want to remove a folder or drive from, and click/tap on Properties.
Remove_folder_from_library_properties-2.png
Remove_folder_from_library_properties-1.png

3 Select the included folder location you want to remove, and click/tap on Remove. (see screenshot below)

Remove_folder_from_library_properties-3.png

4 Click/tap on OK to apply. (see screenshot below)

Remove_folder_from_library_properties-4.png


That's it,
Shawn Brink


 

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I was never a of fan of Libraries, so I just show and use Quick Access folders. Is there any benefit to using Libraries, instead?
Image3.png
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Microsoft 15" Surface Laptop 4
    CPU
    AMD Ryzen 7
    Memory
    8GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    AMD Radeon
    Hard Drives
    512GB WD SSD
    Internet Speed
    384 Mbps per attached network device
    Browser
    MS Edge
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender
  • Operating System
    Windows 11
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell XPS 8950
    CPU
    12th Gen Intel(R) Core(TM) i9-12900K, 3200 Mhz, 16 Core(s), 24 Logical Processor(s)
    Memory
    32 GB DDR5
    Graphics card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti
    Monitor(s) Displays
    32" Samsung
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3 (BT)
    Keyboard
    Arteck (BT)
    Internet Speed
    800
    Browser
    MS Edge
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender
I was never a of fan of Libraries, so I just show and use Quick Access folders. Is there any benefit to using Libraries, instead? [ATTACH type="full"

Hello dwall, :-)

It really depends on your usage.

Quick access is basically just a place to quickly open recent and pinned locations from. Think shortcuts.

A library is basically a way to access the files from different locations in one place instead.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11 Pro for Workstations
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Custom self build
    CPU
    Intel i7-8700K 5 GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Maximus XI Formula Z390
    Memory
    64 GB (4x16GB) G.SKILL TridentZ RGB DDR4 3600 MHz (F4-3600C18D-32GTZR)
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS ROG-STRIX-GTX1080TI-O11G-GAMING (11GB GDDR5X)
    Sound Card
    Integrated Digital Audio (S/PDIF)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2 x Samsung Odyssey G75 27"
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    1TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2,
    4TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2,
    8TB WD MyCloudEX2Ultra NAS
    PSU
    Seasonic Prime Titanium 850W
    Case
    Thermaltake Core P3 wall mounted
    Cooling
    Corsair Hydro H115i
    Keyboard
    Logitech wireless K800
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3
    Internet Speed
    1 Gbps Download and 35 Mbps Upload
    Browser
    Google Chrome
    Antivirus
    Microsoft Defender and Malwarebytes Premium
    Other Info
    Logitech Z625 speaker system,
    Logitech BRIO 4K Pro webcam,
    HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M477fdn,
    APC SMART-UPS RT 1000 XL - SURT1000XLI,
    Galaxy S23 Plus phone
  • Operating System
    Windows 11 Pro
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    HP Spectre x360 2in1 14-eu0098nr (2024)
    CPU
    Intel Core Ultra 7 155H 4.8 GHz
    Memory
    16 GB LPDDR5x-7467 MHz
    Graphics card(s)
    Integrated Intel Arc
    Sound Card
    Poly Studio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    14" 2.8K OLED multitouch
    Screen Resolution
    2880 x 1800
    Hard Drives
    2 TB PCIe NVMe M.2 SSD
    Internet Speed
    Intel Wi-Fi 7 BE200 (2x2) and Bluetooth 5.4
    Browser
    Chrome and Edge
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender and Malwarebytes Premium
Huh, I thought Libraries were simply a collection of default folder shortcuts already made and that you could add to :unsure:
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Microsoft 15" Surface Laptop 4
    CPU
    AMD Ryzen 7
    Memory
    8GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    AMD Radeon
    Hard Drives
    512GB WD SSD
    Internet Speed
    384 Mbps per attached network device
    Browser
    MS Edge
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender
  • Operating System
    Windows 11
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell XPS 8950
    CPU
    12th Gen Intel(R) Core(TM) i9-12900K, 3200 Mhz, 16 Core(s), 24 Logical Processor(s)
    Memory
    32 GB DDR5
    Graphics card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti
    Monitor(s) Displays
    32" Samsung
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3 (BT)
    Keyboard
    Arteck (BT)
    Internet Speed
    800
    Browser
    MS Edge
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender
Huh, I thought Libraries were simply a collection of default folder shortcuts already made and that you could add to :unsure:

A library would be more of a collection of symbolic links or junction points to access from to the source locations.

You can include any folder(s) you want in a library.

Basically, a library is just a way to access different included locations in one place the same way as if accessed directly from the sources.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11 Pro for Workstations
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Custom self build
    CPU
    Intel i7-8700K 5 GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Maximus XI Formula Z390
    Memory
    64 GB (4x16GB) G.SKILL TridentZ RGB DDR4 3600 MHz (F4-3600C18D-32GTZR)
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS ROG-STRIX-GTX1080TI-O11G-GAMING (11GB GDDR5X)
    Sound Card
    Integrated Digital Audio (S/PDIF)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2 x Samsung Odyssey G75 27"
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    1TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2,
    4TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2,
    8TB WD MyCloudEX2Ultra NAS
    PSU
    Seasonic Prime Titanium 850W
    Case
    Thermaltake Core P3 wall mounted
    Cooling
    Corsair Hydro H115i
    Keyboard
    Logitech wireless K800
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3
    Internet Speed
    1 Gbps Download and 35 Mbps Upload
    Browser
    Google Chrome
    Antivirus
    Microsoft Defender and Malwarebytes Premium
    Other Info
    Logitech Z625 speaker system,
    Logitech BRIO 4K Pro webcam,
    HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M477fdn,
    APC SMART-UPS RT 1000 XL - SURT1000XLI,
    Galaxy S23 Plus phone
  • Operating System
    Windows 11 Pro
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    HP Spectre x360 2in1 14-eu0098nr (2024)
    CPU
    Intel Core Ultra 7 155H 4.8 GHz
    Memory
    16 GB LPDDR5x-7467 MHz
    Graphics card(s)
    Integrated Intel Arc
    Sound Card
    Poly Studio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    14" 2.8K OLED multitouch
    Screen Resolution
    2880 x 1800
    Hard Drives
    2 TB PCIe NVMe M.2 SSD
    Internet Speed
    Intel Wi-Fi 7 BE200 (2x2) and Bluetooth 5.4
    Browser
    Chrome and Edge
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender and Malwarebytes Premium
Well, I am not seeing the benefit of using them over my currently using Quick Access for my most used locations as they seem to provide the same service and would be a bit redundant. ;-)
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Microsoft 15" Surface Laptop 4
    CPU
    AMD Ryzen 7
    Memory
    8GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    AMD Radeon
    Hard Drives
    512GB WD SSD
    Internet Speed
    384 Mbps per attached network device
    Browser
    MS Edge
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender
  • Operating System
    Windows 11
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell XPS 8950
    CPU
    12th Gen Intel(R) Core(TM) i9-12900K, 3200 Mhz, 16 Core(s), 24 Logical Processor(s)
    Memory
    32 GB DDR5
    Graphics card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti
    Monitor(s) Displays
    32" Samsung
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3 (BT)
    Keyboard
    Arteck (BT)
    Internet Speed
    800
    Browser
    MS Edge
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender
Well, I am not seeing the benefit of using them over my currently using Quick Access for my most used locations as they seem to provide the same service and would be a bit redundant. ;-)

I'd use whatever works best for you. :-)
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11 Pro for Workstations
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Custom self build
    CPU
    Intel i7-8700K 5 GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Maximus XI Formula Z390
    Memory
    64 GB (4x16GB) G.SKILL TridentZ RGB DDR4 3600 MHz (F4-3600C18D-32GTZR)
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS ROG-STRIX-GTX1080TI-O11G-GAMING (11GB GDDR5X)
    Sound Card
    Integrated Digital Audio (S/PDIF)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2 x Samsung Odyssey G75 27"
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    1TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2,
    4TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2,
    8TB WD MyCloudEX2Ultra NAS
    PSU
    Seasonic Prime Titanium 850W
    Case
    Thermaltake Core P3 wall mounted
    Cooling
    Corsair Hydro H115i
    Keyboard
    Logitech wireless K800
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3
    Internet Speed
    1 Gbps Download and 35 Mbps Upload
    Browser
    Google Chrome
    Antivirus
    Microsoft Defender and Malwarebytes Premium
    Other Info
    Logitech Z625 speaker system,
    Logitech BRIO 4K Pro webcam,
    HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M477fdn,
    APC SMART-UPS RT 1000 XL - SURT1000XLI,
    Galaxy S23 Plus phone
  • Operating System
    Windows 11 Pro
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    HP Spectre x360 2in1 14-eu0098nr (2024)
    CPU
    Intel Core Ultra 7 155H 4.8 GHz
    Memory
    16 GB LPDDR5x-7467 MHz
    Graphics card(s)
    Integrated Intel Arc
    Sound Card
    Poly Studio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    14" 2.8K OLED multitouch
    Screen Resolution
    2880 x 1800
    Hard Drives
    2 TB PCIe NVMe M.2 SSD
    Internet Speed
    Intel Wi-Fi 7 BE200 (2x2) and Bluetooth 5.4
    Browser
    Chrome and Edge
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender and Malwarebytes Premium
Is is possible to also stop folders from appearing in libraries again? The new Media Player in Windows 11 always starts indexing the OneDrive folder for music because that folder gets added to the Music library even after being removed from it. That happens after every restart of the machine.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    CPU
    AMD Ryzen 7 2700X, OctalCore, AM4
    Motherboard
    Gigabyte X470 Aorus Ultra Gaming
    Memory
    Corsair Vengeance LPX, 4x8GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Gigabyte GeForce GTX 1070 8GB
    Sound Card
    Realtek ALC1220 @ AMD K17
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Zowie XL LCD, BenQ RL2455HM
    Screen Resolution
    1080p
    PSU
    Corsair TX650M 650W

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