File Explorer has received a major redesign in Windows 11. But in essence, it still has all the important features in Windows 10 and one of them is Quick Access. It’s a useful section in File Explorer for easy access to your favorite folders and recently opened files. So you can use Quick Access in Windows 11 to open files quickly without navigating the folder structure.
If you want to learn more about using Quick Access, you’ve come to the right place. We will show you how to use, reset and uninstall Quick Access in Windows 11. So let’s get straight to the point.
Pin or Unpin Folders for Quick Access
When you open File Explorer in Windows 11, you will be greeted with Quick Access. It shows you the 10 most frequently used folders and the 20 most recently accessed files. However, you can customize Quick Access by pinning some of your favorite folders for quick access. Here’s how.
Stage 1: Open the start menu, type file explorerand press Enter. Alternatively, you can also use the Windows key + E key shortcut for this.
Step 2: Then navigate to the folder you want to add in Quick Access. Right-click on it and select Pin to Quick access.
If you want to remove a folder from Quick Access, right-click the folder under Quick Access and select Pin from Quick Access.
Similarly, you can remove a recent file from Quick Access by right-clicking on it and selecting Remove from Quick access.
Prevent Quick Access from Showing Recent Files and Folders
While removing a file or folder from Quick Access is easy enough, you can also prevent Quick Access from showing the most used folders or recently used files altogether. Here’s how.
Stage 1: Press the Windows key + E shortcut to launch File Explorer.
Step 2: Use the three-dot menu icon at the top to select Options from the list.
Stage 3: In the Folder Options window, switch to the General tab. Under Privacy, uncheck the boxes that say ‘Show recently used files in Quick access’ and ‘Show frequently used folders in Quick access’.
Finally, hit Apply and then OK.
This much. After that, Quick Access will only show you the pinned folders.
How to Reset Quick Access in Windows 11
If you messed up Quick Access by pinning too many folders, you can always reset Quick Access and start from scratch. Doing so will also clear the Recent files history in Quick Access.
To reset Quick Access, you must use the command prompt in Windows. Read on to find out how.
Stage 1: Open the start menu, type cmdand click Run as administrator.
Step 2: Run the following command one by one.
del /q /f %appdata%\Microsoft\Windows\Recent\* del /q /f %appdata%\Microsoft\Windows\Recent\AutomaticDestinations\* del /q /f %appdata%\Microsoft\Windows\Recent\CustomDestinations\*
And that’s it. This will reset Quick Access in Windows.
While File Explorer doesn’t have an option to reset Quick Access, it does have an option to clear File Explorer history. So, if you just want to clear existing history from Quick Access, here’s how to do it.
Stage 1: Open File Explorer and use the three-dot menu in File Explorer to open Folder Options.
Step 2: Under Privacy, click the Clear button to remove the Quick Access history.
How to Disable Quick Access Completely in Windows 11
If you don’t like the idea of using Quick Access, you can also remove it entirely from File Explorer. For this you need to modify the registry files in Windows. Here’s how to do it.
Warning word. Because registry files are an integral part of Windows, you should take some time to back up your registry files before making any changes.
Stage 1: Press Windows key + R, type regedit box and press Enter.
Step 2: Use the address bar at the top to navigate to the button below.
Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer
Stage 3: Right-click anywhere in the empty space on your right, select New and select DWORD (32-bit) Value. You name it HubMode.
Step 4: Double click the newly created DWORD and change its value to 1.
After that, restart your computer and you will no longer see Quick Access in File Explorer.
You can re-enable Quick Access at any time by following the steps above and deleting the HubMode entry.
For Easier Access
If your work involves using File Explorer frequently, Quick access can help you open files and folders efficiently. I always use it to pin and access my favorite folders. But hey, if you don’t like using it, you can always disable it or replace Quick Access with favorites in Windows.
