How to re-enable the "Expand to Open Folder" option?

I have been playing with this for a while now, and commented on it in a post back on January 10th, that I was also having issues with this. From what I now have read, and tested, this is now the 'behavior' of file explorer. It was introduced with Windows 11 build 22593. This is where Microsoft renamed the 'Quick Access' of file explorer to 'Home', and made Home the default where file explorer opens. I also found that 'Home' is not an actual location, meaning, you cannot create anything new at this location as it is a virtual folder.

What is disturbing is that for the 'Expand to Open Folder' to work, you have to go into the options and set the 'Open File Explorer to:' the 'This PC' option. However, when you do that, File Explorer opens at the root of the machine, and for most people it appears they want to see what is in their 'user directory', or what people refer to as thier home directory. So, the terminology is a bit confusing.

What I have found is a quick workaround to this... or maybe something that will work for this chapter of File Explorer and going forward a bit. The issue is navigating into the folders shown in the 'Home' directory, as they are virtual and do not behave with the 'Expand to Open Folder' option. This, IMHO, is what people were expecting.

The solution is to keep the 'Expand to Open Folder' option checked (keep it on), then create a shortcut. I've now created a few on my desktop to take me into specific folders within my account's file structure. When you create a shortcut, it asks you to type the location of the item. What I type into the box is: "explorer c:\Users\kernh" (kernh being me). When you look at the properties of this new shortcut, it will actually show: "C:\Windows\explorer.exe c:\Users\kernh". Now, when you use this new shortcut, you will see that the window that opens shows you are at the "Home" location, and it also shows you all the files and folders in that shortcut directory. You can then set the 'view' of that folder however you like, with 'list', 'icons', or your choosing. Also, you'll be able to create new files or folders within the directory that opens. Then when you navigate into any of your directories that show here (double click on a directory), you'll now see that the "Expand to Open Folder" actually is working, and that directory will be listed in a tree in the left-hand pane.

BTW, you can also put this shortcut onto the TaskBar, however, you can't pin to Quick Access, as that puts it on the TaskBar shorcut that doesn't behave with the 'Expand..." option. The thing with this new behavior is that Microsoft has no documentation that actually describes this new behavior.

As usual, I am open to comments. Thanks!

Same here. Windows 11 file explorer is a joke, right? It's the most counterproductive version I have used in over 20 years. The poorly disorganized structure, the home tab that doesn't expand (favorites always worked), the broken expand option that doesn't expand selected folders in the navigation pane....

and then the nerve of Microsoft to force us all to be our own IT and run regedits instead of having proper UI for these options. Honestly, I think the new tab function is stupid and I see only bad things from the Windows 11 version. Trying to navigate to files has become a chore that takes up to 10x longer than it used to.

At this point, MS engineers clearly see this as a feature, not a bug. It's been long enough that I'm used to my adjusted work habits. The main issue I have now with Windows Explorer is it freezes when I'm working on my music collection. Weird, but I installed a third party file explorer for those days when WE seems kvetchy.

This bug is still NOT fixed in Windows 11 23H2 with February 2024 update 🤷‍♂️

Bad idea on stopping updates. Yes, MS product marketing is filled with clueless nabobs who fail to think through changes of convenience. But the vipers remain as strong as ever, looking for - and finding - security holes in the OS. Stopping the updates exposes you to a different, far more significant form of hell.