How to reorder items in Quick access (File explorer, Windows 11)

Anonymous
2022-12-14T15:33:05+00:00

I think my File Explorer (Windows 11) is possessed by an evil creature that enjoys rattling me. Every once in a while it decides to substitute my pinned folders with some random and mostly useless ones.

Today I decided to retry and re-organize that section of File explorer.

I am not able to sort the items I put in Quick Access. Folders are in a completely random order, not alphabetical, not based on usage. It is random.

When I try and move a folder, File Explorer put it back where it was.

This is an incredibly bad application. I fail in understanding how Microsoft is not able to provide a simple and functional File Explorer. I use also a Mac OS system and cannot belive how much better their simple Finder is. At least it enables users to organize their pinned locations as they like.

Is there anyone with a suggestion?

By the way. Besides the name, what do you think the difference between "Quick access" and "Favorites" is?

For the experts: reinstalling Windows is not an option.

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

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.

0 comments

191 answers

Sort by: Newest
Most helpful Newest Oldest
  1. Anonymous
    2023-08-10T09:42:20+00:00

    Yes! This worked for me, too. I was having the same annoying issue of not being able to rearrange items in Quick Access.

    I'll add one note that may be helpful: once you've unclicked Show All Folders, the Navigation Pane displays differently, which may be slightly annoying, too.

    However, I noticed that if you click the Show All Folders option after you've rearranged the items in Quick Access, the Navigation Pane looks the same as before with the advantage of the items being arranged as desired!

    So rearranging is possible, albeit more tedious now.

    Not sure why this was done by MS, but I'm guessing that it's an oversight.

    Cheers to all!

    Was this answer helpful?

    1 person found this answer helpful.
    0 comments
  2. Anonymous
    2023-07-13T14:33:25+00:00

    I had to do the following:

    Click on the "..." and select Options (Since there is a "View" option next to the "..." it could be confusing for some.

    Once Options is open, click on the "View" tab

    Scroll all the way to the bottom and you should see the "Show all folders" options.

    My organization just upgraded me to Windows 11. I have used it on my home computer for a while. I am curious to see if my setting gets reversed after I log back in tomorrow.

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments
  3. Anonymous
    2023-07-12T05:51:16+00:00

    Evidently that works for some. Doesn't work on mine. It's at least mildly exasperating when the best a moderator can come up with is "it was designed that way". To alleviate the problem, I created a folder called 'Quick Access', put that in 'Documents', filled it with shortcuts to the folders I need quick access to, then pinned it to Home. Being a big fan of Win 11, I'm surprised to see this unresolved for so long.

    Was this answer helpful?

    3 people found this answer helpful.
    0 comments
  4. Anonymous
    2023-07-12T01:28:07+00:00

    Thanks! Your solution worked! - I've been trying to do this for months, just thought I'd re-check for solutions in the forum, very grateful for your post.

    Was this answer helpful?

    1 person found this answer helpful.
    0 comments
  5. Anonymous
    2023-07-03T19:24:34+00:00

    Thank you for your reply. I ended up not having to restore defaults. For some reason, when I unchecked the "Show All Folders" I was able to move by dragging the folders in QA.

    I still don't see the QA or Favorites in the left Navigation Pane but from the replies above I now know MS deleted them! Another expert move by the programming folks who make unnecessary changes without asking users first.

    I am now retired and so no longer chained to pc's and the MS OS so when I can save enough money I'm going to make the leap to Apple as all my children and other relatives have already done.

    Good luck in the future and thanks again for taking the time to reply!

    Was this answer helpful?

    2 people found this answer helpful.
    0 comments