In Windows 11 file explorer navigation pane, how do I move Quick Access pins back to the top of the list?

Anonymous
2022-11-12T22:09:14+00:00

When I updated my machine to Windows 11, the quick access items were moved beneath OneDrive in the File Explorer navigation pane. This is a big inconvenience since I always have my OneDrive folder expanded and can no longer scroll to the top to access my pinned folders. How do I get the pinned Quick Access items back to the top of the navigation pane where I can – ironically – access them quickly?

Windows for home | Windows 11 | Files, folders, and storage

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  1. Anonymous
    2025-01-15T11:22:30+00:00

    Sad to hear that they're not providing good support. The product (once you get it installed) is awesome.

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  2. Anonymous
    2025-01-15T12:07:54+00:00

    Admittedly it works. I am just concerned about the inevitable PC screwup where I need to reinstall. However at $5 it is not a big concern.

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  3. Anonymous
    2025-01-16T15:48:24+00:00

    I found a workable solution, though not entirely satisfying. In File Explorer, Folder Options, View, Navigation Pane, I unchecked "Expand to open folder", and this stops the navigation pane from opening my OneDrive folder tree as I click through in the main pane. This in turn keeps my Quick Access folders visible.

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  4. Anonymous
    2025-01-24T15:26:37+00:00

    Good tip by @gxsgirl95! Thanks for that.

    I can live with Quick Access being 50 px below the top, but everytime I click a QA link, OneDrive's folder structure expands to take up the entire height of the sidebar, and I'm left wondering: Did anyone at MS actually test this?

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  5. Anonymous
    2025-01-24T15:30:24+00:00

    Same tip as @gxsgirl95 and it's brilliant. I can actually use the sidebar again.

    I still can't drag anything to that top section, but at least OneDrive doesn't constantly expand to take up the full height of the sidebar.

    Correction: I confused two settings. The one @neil vectorr.com's suggests is interesting but it seems to disable Quick Access.

    It's this setting that makes the top section behave the way I want it:

    File Explorer > Folder Options > View > Navigation Pane > untick "Expand to open folder"

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