Windows 10: How to stop quick access toolbar from auto-pinning the next most recent folder when...

On the quick access toolbar, I have been trying to remove folders from the quick access, but when removing one folder, file explorer auto-pins the next most recent folder into the quick access toolbar.Old forum directions do not work after the update to Windows 11. There is now no longer an option to disable this.Please advise. Thank you!Best,Patrick

:)

 

Recent folders / frequent folders / recent files / quick access

Hi,



Thank you for writing to Microsoft Community Forums.



I understand your query related to accessing recent items that you have accessed on your PC.



Usually, when you access a file or folder on your PC it shows in the Quick Access menu as recent files.



However, if you are looking for the most recent files that you have accessed from the PC then the simplest way is to access the recent items using the run command.

1. Press Windows key + R. This will open
   Run. Alternatively, you can go to Start and search for
   Run.
   
2. In Run dialog box, type
   shell:recent and hit Enter.
   

This will open a window with all the recent items that you have accessed. You can also pin this folder in the Quick Access menu so that it will be easier for you to access once again.



Kindly follow the steps to pin the recent items on the Quick Access menu.

1. Right click on the Quick Access menu on the left hand pane.
   
2. Select Pin current folder to Quick access.
   

Once you pin the folder you should be able to access the recent items. Refer the screenshot for more information.





Regards,

Prakhar Khare

Microsoft Community – Moderator

 

Quick Access bar

Hi,

Thank you for posting your query in Microsoft Community.

We would be glad to help you with the issue you are facing today. I understand the difficulty.

Remove items from Quick access.

I would suggest you to follow the below steps.

• Right click on the file or folder.
• Select the option “unpin from the quick access”

To pin items to an item already on the quick access bar.

Follow the below steps.

I would suggest you to create folder in the desktop screen & place all the files or folder which need to pin to the quick access.

• Open the quick access.
• Select the Desktop option.
• Right click on the folder & select the option “pin to quick access”

Hope this helps in resolving the issue. If the issue persists, do get back to us. We will be happy to assist you.



Thank you.

 

Quick Access is missing "Frequent Folders" and "Recent Files"

Thanks for the explanation and sorting tips, ThePhinx. I'm now using the "Recent Items" workaround in my File Explorer jump list.

One thing that I hadn't realized was that the (now useless) "Recent Folders" entry pinned in the jump list is somehow linked to its instance pinned to the Quick Access list. Removing it from the jump list removes it from Quick Access, which is not what
I intended. So I'll have to live with a non-working "Recent Folders" in my jump list, I guess.

It's somewhat annoying that I cannot reorder the jump list to move "Recent Folders" lower in the list. I want "Recent Folders" at the top of my Quick Access list, but at the bottom of my jump list. Windows does not seem to allow that.