Windows Quick Access is a quick and easy way to dynamically access the files and folders that matter most to you on your Windows computer. It’s such a small feature that Windows simply wouldn’t be the same without it.
However, WIndows isn’t perfect. Since it examines the files and folders that you access most often, there may be some that you don’t want to display in the menu that is so prominent in Windows Explorer. If so, there are ways to work around this.
In this article, let’s talk about several ways to customize the Windows 10 Quick Access Menu to get the most out of it.
How to enable or disable files / folders in quick access
How to enable or disable files / folders in Quick Access
One of the options for setting up quick access in Windows 10 is the ability to turn off the display of recently used files and / or folders. Disabling both of these will make Quick Access useless unless you specifically pinned files or folders in Quick Access, so keep that in mind.
To do this, go to File Explorer Options in Control Panel.
The following window will appear. At the bottom, you will see two checkboxes that allow you to toggle the display of recent files and / or folders on and off. Keep in mind that this does not mimic the functionality of the latest Windows 10 elements. Quick Access will only show elements that have been used repeatedly over time.
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You also have the option to clear your explorer history. This will effectively give you a blank slate in quick access so that more recent and relevant elements can start to appear.
How to exclude individual files / folders from quick access
How to exclude individual files / folders in Quick Access
If your quick access shows a specific file or folder that you don’t want to display, excluding it is a very simple process.
All you have to do is right-click on a file or folder and select Remove from Quick Access or Unpin from Quick Access.
If you ever want to re-enable the display of any files or folders, use the Clear button in the File Explorer Options menu (as shown in the previous section).
How to completely remove quick access
How to completely remove Quick Access
If you decide that quick access is not for you, and you want to get rid of it completely, this is possible with a simple registry edit. However, be sure to back up the Windows registry before making any changes.
First press Windows Key + R to open the Run window. Type “regedit†in the box and press Enter.
In this window, in the folder tree on the left, navigate to the following registry key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE SOFTWARE Microsoft Windows CurrentVersion Explorer
Right-click an empty part of the panel on the right and choose DWORD (32-bit) Value from the New menu.
Change the name of the value to “HubMode” and give it the value 1.
Now if you open Windows Explorer, you will see that the shortcut menu is no longer on the left side. If you still see it, you may need to restart Windows Explorer or your computer in general.
If you want to undo this at any time, all you have to do is delete the value you just created.
Quick Access is one of the most useful features of Windows 10’s file manager, and having control over it can seriously improve the performance of your everyday PC. We hope you’ve learned how to customize quick access to your needs with the tips above!
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