Pins In File Explorer

LGLDSR73-6492 1,480 Reputation points
2025-12-22T18:27:17.7866667+00:00

Greetings,

Does anyone know what these Pins are and where on Earth they came from? They were not there ten minutes ago. I downloaded a program called Visual Watermark from the MS Store.

Any input greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

LGLDSR73

1

Windows for home | Windows 11 | Files, folders, and storage
Answer accepted by question author
Jeronimo Fuerte 46,645 Reputation points Independent Advisor
2025-12-22T19:13:13.6766667+00:00

If the “pins” you’re seeing are in File Explorer’s “Quick access” (Windows 10) / “Home” (Windows 11) area, that’s normal: it simply means those folders were pinned to Quick access, so they’ll stay there until you remove them and will generally appear above the “frequent/recent” items.

To remove them: open File Explorer / in the left pane under Quick access, right-click the folder / Unpin from Quick access.

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Answer accepted by question author
Airbus A350 8,110 Reputation points Volunteer Moderator
2025-12-22T19:06:39.4+00:00

Hello,

Those pins are there for quick access to the folders that are frequently used.

File Explorer should come like that by default and will add folders you frequent to that sidebar as well.

If you don't want those folders there, you can right-click them and clock "Unpin from Quick Access".

If you would like to stop frequent folders from appearing, you can also click the three dots on the navigation bar, push "Options", then "General", then under the "Privacy" section, deselect "Show frequently used folders".

Is this what you were looking for?

Hope this helps, and happy holidays!

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  1. LGLDSR73-6492 1,480 Reputation points
    2026-10-03T14:52:29.7233333+00:00

    I'm good, this is all taken care of. Thank you to everyone.

    LGLDSR73

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  2. Jeronimo Fuerte 46,645 Reputation points Independent Advisor
    2025-12-22T19:37:45.8833333+00:00

    Go to C:\Users\ and look for the folder that matches your Windows username, open it, and look for the Downloads folder. Once you find it, right-click the folder and select Pin to Quick access. This will add it to the left pane in File Explorer under Quick access.

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