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I completed the latest Windows update this morning and opened File Explorer, and the quick access was missing. I can still add files to quick access, but it is nowhere to be seen. When I search the internet, they refer to how great the new file explorer is. Without quick access, it is pretty useless to me, and I want to find out how to get it back.
I do not have AAD. However, the descriptions I see on the internet imply that I am looking at the AAD version and not the consumer version. A lot of the information to describe the new file explorer states the following "Users signed in with Azure Active Directory (AAD) will see a recommended files strip with thumbnail previews. Consumer devices will only show the “Quick Access”, “Favorites” and “Recent” sections."
I wish to see the “Quick Access”, “Favorites” and “Recent” sections." but cannot work out how to do it.
Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.
Hi,
Same problem here.
Under Privacy, here is just no such setting. All I can see is:
What can I do now? I just can't pin anything. Can't add folders to Home. Best I can do is pin them to Start which is far from ideal.
Thanks
Quentin
I fixed this by un-checking the Show Recommended Section option.
Quick access tiles are back, but they are now arranged in a horizontal list. Seems like a couple of bugs here. But at least I have my quick action icons back.
Thanks for your detailed response - I just have to mention how absurd and unacceptable it is that users should have to jump through hoops like this in order to fix the messes that Microsoft inflicts on its users, with no response or reaction from them to the issue.
Unfortunately none of this worked for me and I have tried all your recommendations, as well as several others recommended by others, for hours. My 'Privacy' section in Explorer Options has the 'Show recommended section' greyed out so it can be neither checked nor unchecked.
The 'Open File Explorer to' does not have a 'Quick Access' option so this has obviously been tampered with at Microsoft, for who knows what good reason. I cannot even pin a foder to the Start menu - trying to do this simply pins the entire File Explorer to the Start menu.
The most frustrating part of all these things (and this is not the first time by any means) is when the so-called Microsoft Experts post solutions in the forums (such as this one) that simply do not work or do not even exist. While Microsoft itself sits in its ivory tower and profoundly ignores everybody.
As Dan Warfield1 noted, deseleting "Show recommended section" allowed the Quick Access items to reappear. That, coupled with Ravi Charhar's recommendation, displayed the Quick Access items at the top of the window in the main panel using the your Explorer View settings (i.e., Tiles, Content, etc.).
Clicking on Home in the navigation pane to expand it revealed the Quick Access items as well in a list sequence. If you want to have the items appear in the navigation pane each time you open the Explorer window without having to click on Home, inside Folder Options, select View and scroll down to "Navigation pane" and check the box next to "Expand to open folder".
The Quick Access items will now appear in the navigation page but you can no longer rearrange them into a desired sequence with drag and drop. You have to unpin items and then pin them again in the sequence you want them to appear.
You are awesome!
Thank you, Tami.
