Windows 10 offers a Quick Access menu in the File Explorer sidebar. However, those using File Explorer since Windows 7 prefer the Favorites menu in the sidebar. Thankfully, you can replace the Quick Access menu with Favorites in Windows 10.
You will need to edit some files in Registry Editor to restore Favorites from the dead. We recommend backing up the Registry File before proceeding, as it may disrupt the way your system works. Another way is to create a restore point, which also works fine.
Let’s get started.
Using the Registry Editor
You will need to edit some files in Registry Editor to restore Favorites from the dead. We recommend backing up the Registry File before proceeding, as it may disrupt the way your system works. Another way is to create a restore point, which also works fine.
Step 1: Search for Registry Editor in the Start menu and launch it.
Step 2: See the details of the folder structure below.
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Desktop\NameSpace
Step 3: Create a new key in the NameSpace folder and name it:
{323CA680-C24D-4099-B94D-446DD2D7249E}
It will look something like this.
Step 4: Now, navigate to the folder structure below.
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\HideDesktopIcons\NewStartPanel
In the right window pane, right-click an empty area to select New > DWORD (32-bit) Value (even if you’re running the 64-bit version) and name this file with the same key you gave create above in Step 3 like this:
{323CA680-C24D-4099-B94D-446DD2D7249E}
Step 5: Double click on the newly created file and set the Value data to 1. Save changes.
Step 6: You will now see the familiar Favorites menu at the bottom of File Explorer.
You need to move it to the top for easy access. To do so, navigate to this folder structure in Registry Editor.
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Classes\CLSID
And recreate a new subkey with the same name. Right click on the CLSID to do as before.
{323CA680-C24D-4099-B94D-446DD2D7249E}
Step 7: Under the key created in step 6, you will create a DWORD (32-bit) Value file and name it:
SortOrderIndex
Step 8: Double click to open the newly created file and set the Value Data to 4.
The Favorites menu will show up higher in the sidebar in File Explorer.
So we shared how to hide the Quick Access menu and bring Favorites back in the File Explorer sidebar menu. But we are not done yet. The problem is that you can access everything inside the Favorites folder, but you still can’t expand it in the sidebar. Clicking on the arrow (expand the folder) yields nothing and the arrow disappears when you try.
Command prompt to create link
This is where we will switch to CMD or Command Prompt. Then we will use a Windows tool called ‘mklink’ which is a command line tool. It allows the user to create a symlink that allows us to link a directory to the location of another directory. It can be useful in a number of conditions.
Step 1: Search and open CMD from the Start menu and select Run as administrator.
Step 2: Give below command to change directory.
cd %userprofile%/links
Step 3: I will add the Downloads folder and name it Downloads123. Here is the command syntax for that.
mklink /d SomeName %USERPROFILE%\SourceFolder
Replace SomeName with the name of the link you want and SourceFolder with the location the link should point to. So to link to the Downloads folder the command would look like this:
mklink /downloads123 %userprofile%\Downloads
It created a new folder in Favorites called Downloads123 but more importantly the dropdown worked perfectly.
Do not play favorites
Quick access isn’t too bad, but many users are used to the old ways and we understand that. This is why we figured out how to fix it for you. The steps can be a bit complicated, and there are certainly quite a few. I recommend doing the steps once before actually doing anything and then starting from scratch. That way, you’ll understand what we’re doing and why. Take it step by step and check how your screen looks and works like the one shown in the screenshot.
Let us know in the comments if you’ve got the Favorites menu back. Found another way or a better way to fix the problem? Again, let us know in the comments section below.
Categories: How to
Source: thpttranhungdao.edu.vn/en/
