The Windows 10 comes with a Quick Access option in the File Explorer. Quick Access view has more uses for me than anyone else I know. Between, writing docs & editing images and finally uploading them to the server becomes easy when you don’t have to navigate through multiple folders to access the recently edited files (image, docs, videos) but directly to access it from the File Explorer’s Quick View section.
But, not everyone wants to have their recent activities visible to everyone who accesses the computer. If you are of the opinion that Quick Access Menu looks better when disabled, then this article will help you do the same. In this post, I will show you how to customize the File Explorer in Windows to disable Recently Files option. If you also want to completely remove, Quick Access and OneDrive icon from the File Explorer, this guides covers it as well.
Disable Quick Access / Recent Files in File Explorer – Windows 10
Microsoft has given an option to disable Quick Access for those who want to keep their recent activities private. You can disable the Recent Files section in the File Explorer from the options.
1. Open File Explorer from the taskbar.
2. By default, File Explorer will open the Quick Access section. Right-click on Quick Access icon and select Options.
3. In the Folder Options window, you need to uncheck two options under the Privacy section.
So, uncheck the following two options.
- “Show recently used files in Quick Access.”
- “Show frequently used folders in Quick Access.”
4. Click the Clear button below the options to clear recent file history which is already visible from the File Explorer.
5. Click Apply and then click OK to save the changes.
The next time you open File Explorer, you will not see the Recent Files section under Quick Access.
Note that this will not remove Quick Access icon from the File Explorer’s left-side pane but will only disable recent files and frequently used folder option.
If you want to remove Quick Access icon from the File Explorer’s left-side pane, scroll down and read the Remove Icons from File Explorer part below. It will also help you to remove the OneDrive folder icon from the File Explorer/ This PC navigation pane.
Open “File Explorer” to This PC Instead Quick Access
By default File Explorer opens Quick Access option to show you recently accessed files and frequently used folders. But, if you want to open This PC or My Computer instead, here is how to do it.
1. Open “File Explorer” from the Taskbar.
2. At the top, click the View tab. From the top-right corner, click Options and select “Change folder and search option.”
4. The “Open File Explorer to” option is set to Quick Access by default. To change it, click the Drop-down button and select “This PC” from the option.
5. Click Apply and OK to save the changes.
Remove Quick Access, OneDrive and Other Icons from This PC
To be able to remove icons such as Quick Access and OneDrive from the left pane of This PC, you need to edit the Registry Key in the Registry Editor. So, make sure you follow the steps correctly.
There are multiple icons, hence I have listed the steps to remove each icon separately.
Remove OneDrive Icon
1. To do this, you need to open the Registry Editor. Press WIN + R key to open the run dialogue box. Type regedit in it and hit enter.
2. From the registry editor, navigate to the following key:
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{018D5C66-4533-4307-9B53-224DE2ED1FE6}
The best way to find any key in Registry Editor is to use the Find option.
- To find the key, right-click on HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT and select Find.
- In the “Find what:” field, enter {018D5C66-4533-4307-9B53-224DE2ED1FE6}.
- Make sure you uncheck Values and Data under “Look at” section and only keep Keys option checked.
- Click Find Next. Once the search is complete, you will be automatically navigated to the searched key.
3. In the right-side pane, double-click on System.IsPinnedToNameSpaceTree.
4. In the DWORD window, enter 0 replacing 1 as Value Data.
That’s it. The OneDrive icon from the File Explorer / This PC pane is removed.
Remove Quick Access Icon
1. Open Registry Editor and navigate to the following key:
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{679f85cb-0220-4080-b29b-5540cc05aab6}\ShellFolder
- Right-click on HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT and select Find.
- Enter ShellFolder as the search term and uncheck Values and Data option.
- Once found, right-click on ShellFolder and take the ownership of the registry key. You can read my other guide on how to take ownership of Registry Key here.
3. After taking the ownership, from the right-side pane double-click on Attributes.
4. In the DWORD window, enter a0600000 in Value data. Close Registry Editor.
5. Now you need to restart the File Explorer process from the task manager to save the changes.
6. Right-click on the Taskbar and open Task Manager.
7. From the Process tab, right-click on Windows Explorer and select Restart.
Remove Extra External Drive Icon
Whenever you add an external drive to your PC, you can see two icons of the same Drive displayed under This PC. If you want to remove the extra drive icon, here is how to do it.
1. Open Registry Editor.
2. Navigate to the following key using the find option.
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer
\CommonPlaces\NameSpace\DelegateFolders\{d34a6ca6-62c2-4c34-8a7c-14709c1ad938}
3. Delete the {d34a6ca6-62c2-4c34-8a7c-14709c1ad938} key and it will remove the extra drive icon in the File Explorer / This PC.
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