General Remove Quick Access Folders from Navigation Pane of File Explorer in Windows 11


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This tutorial will show you how to stop showing Quick access folders on the navigation pane of File Explorer for your account in Windows 11 and Windows 10.

Quick access is part of Home in File Explorer (Win+E).

Quick access allows you to quickly access and view your pinned folders and frequent folders from within Home in File Explorer, and from the navigation pane of File Explorer when Show all folders is turned off.

If you don't like seeing all your pinned folders and frequent folders showing on the navigation pane of File Explorer, then you can remove them all to stop showing. This will also remove the Quick access section from Home in File Explorer.


EXAMPLE: Quick access folders on navigation pane of File Explorer

Quick_access_folders_in_navigation_pane-1.png
Quick_access_in_Home.png


Quick_access_folders_in_navigation_pane-2.png
Quick_access_in_Home-2.png



Here's How:

1 Open Folder Options.

2 Perform the following steps to stop showing frequent folders in Quick access: (see screenshot below)
  1. Click/tap on the General tab.
  2. Under Privacy, uncheck Show frequently used folders.
  3. Click/tap on OK to apply.
Folder_Options_frequent_folders.png

3 Open File Explorer (Win+E).

4 Perform the following steps on each folder pinned to Quick access to remove them: (see screenshot below)
  1. Right click on a pinned folder in the navigation pane.
  2. Click/tap on Unpin from Quick access.
Unpin_from_Quick_access.png


That's it,
Shawn Brink


Related Tutorials

 

Attachments

  • Home.png
    Home.png
    7.5 KB · Views: 92
Last edited:
Click to expand...
rsoyxihnark said:
is there a regedit version of unpinning? previous tricks no longer work with this new explorer.

I am trying to automate removal of Videos & Music pins.
Click to expand...

Brink said:
I'm not aware of a way to unpin specific folders like that. :(
Click to expand...

Yeah I used the HubMode (HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer) to hide QuickAccess in Windows 10. But in Windows 11 this does not work. And what's annoying, other websites state that it does... though it's possible it worked in earlier versions. I'm only starting my work on W11 22H2

Very disappointing as I too wish to do this via reg/command/PS.
We give a kiosk user access to a specific folder only, and to have links to other areas that they could start messing around with is very irritating.
Fingers X for a solution in the future
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11 Pro
greetings,

is there a way to remove the grey pin icons next to the pinned folders on quick access?

thanks
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    w11
jjkk said:
greetings,

is there a way to remove the grey pin icons next to the pinned folders on quick access?

thanks
Click to expand...
Hello jkk, and welcome. :alien:

I'm afraid only by unpinning them.
 

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
You can replace them with a blank image using 'CustomizerGod'
The top screenshot indicates which icon we are replacing and the bottom image shows it
when we have replaced it with #5100.ico.
The original icon and the replacement are both enclosed in the zip file.

You just select the 'Pin' icon and then click on the 'Change' button below
and replace it with the #5100.ico

To reverse it just highlight the icon once again and click on 'Restore'
I've tested it and it seems to be working fine here.
I have noticed however that the 'Pin' does seem to appear in some other areas other than 'Explorer'
I haven't tracked them down as of yet.

Before.png
After.png
 

Attachments

  • icons.rar
    5 KB · Views: 16

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Dual Boot 10 / 11 Pro
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