QUICK ACCESS FOLDER IN FILE EXPLORER LEFT PANE IS NOT APPEARING

Question

QUICK ACCESS FOLDER IN FILE EXPLORER LEFT PANE IS NOT APPEARING

Mohan Sakleshpurapapanna 30

I have tried to add few frequently visited folder to quick access in file explorer but added folders are not appearing in quick access submenu. Quick access sub menu itself is not showing up in file explorer.

Meshack Okubasu 15 Reputation points

2026-06-10T09:00:55.5133333+00:00

You can refresh your task menu and restart

Answer accepted by question author

DaveM121 935.7K Independent Advisor

1

Your Quick Access folder is probably corrupt, the best option is to delete the content of Quick Access, and then re-pin the folders you need there.

Click your Start Button, then just type cmd and on the resulting menu, right click Command Prompt and select 'Run as Administrator'

Paste this command into Command Prompt and press Enter:

del /F /Q %APPDATA%\Microsoft\Windows\Recent\*

Paste this command into Command Prompt and press Enter:

del /F /Q %APPDATA%\Microsoft\Windows\Recent\AutomaticDestinations\*

Paste this command into Command Prompt and press Enter:

del /F /Q %APPDATA%\Microsoft\Windows\Recent\CustomDestinations\*

Then, close Command Prompt.

2

Then open File Explorer.

Click the 3 dots on the top menu and select properties.

On the resulting dialog, click the 'Restore Defaults' button.

Select the View tab and click the 'Restore Defaults' button and the 'Reset Folders' button.

Restart (not shut down) your PC.

Then try adding new folders/files to Quick Access.

Mohan Sakleshpurapapanna 30 Reputation points

2026-06-10T09:06:37.1+00:00

I tried and this works. I can add folder to quick access. The added folder I can see in left pane,But "Quick access" menu not there. Its ok as long as I see added folder in the left pane.

Thanks.

2 additional answers

Your answer

Meshack Okubasu 15 Reputation points

2026-06-10T09:00:55.5133333+00:00

You can refresh your task menu and restart
Mohan Sakleshpurapapanna 30 Reputation points

2026-06-10T09:06:37.1+00:00

I tried and this works. I can add folder to quick access. The added folder I can see in left pane,But "Quick access" menu not there. Its ok as long as I see added folder in the left pane.

Thanks.

Answer 1

Meshack Okubasu 15

Reboot the system

0 comments

Answer 2

Senthil kumar 2,500

Hi @Mohan Sakleshpurapapanna

Open File Explorer

Click View → Options

Under Privacy, enable:

Show recently used files in Quick Access

Show frequently used folders in Quick Access

please check the above options enabled in your system. suppose not enabled those options.

Mohan Sakleshpurapapanna 30 Reputation points

2026-06-10T08:25:55.3266667+00:00
Hello Senthil,

Thanks for your time helping this issue.

Under Privacy I have enabled below,

Show recently used files

Show frequently used folders

Show recommended section

Include account-based insights, recent, favorite, and recommended file Only above Options are appearing I quick access related check box are not there

Thanks
Senthil kumar 2,500 Reputation points

2026-06-10T09:05:16.8366667+00:00

so, you are using your own pc not a office system. suppose office laptop or pc they remove those options for the security reasons. if your own pc please follow the below steps and update.

Press Win + R

Paste:

%AppData%\Microsoft\Windows\Recent\AutomaticDestinations

Delete:

f01b4d95cf55d32a.automaticDestinations-ms

Restart File Explorer

Restart File exploer

Go to task manager -> windows explorer-> right click -> restart.

suppose your PC from office may be IT admin restricted.

Thanks.