Windows 10: Turn On or Off Show all folders in Windows 10 Navigation Pane

How to: Turn On or Off Show all folders in Windows 10 Navigation Pane


Information You can use the navigation pane (the left pane) in File Explorer to find files and folders on your PC.

If you like, you can select to show all the folders on your PC in the navigation pane, including your personal folder, Control Panel, and Recycle Bin.

This tutorial will show you different options for how to turn on or off show all folders in the navigation pane of File Explorer for your account in Windows 10.

CONTENTS:

• Option One: To Turn On or Off 'Show all folders' from Navigation Pane
• Option Two: To Turn On or Off 'Show all folders' from File Explorer Ribbon
• Option Three: To Turn On or Off 'Show all folders' from File Explorer Options
• Option Four: To Turn On or Off 'Show all folders' using a BAT file

EXAMPLE: 'Show all folder' On and Off in navigation pane











OPTION ONE [/i] To Turn On or Off 'Show all folders' from Navigation Pane
1. Open File Explorer.

2. Right click or press and hold on an empty area inside the navigation pane, and click/tap on Show all folders to toggle it on (checked) or off (unchecked - default). (see screenshot below)









OPTION TWO [/i] To Turn On or Off 'Show all folders' from File Explorer Ribbon
1. Open File Explorer, and click/tap on the View tab.

2. Click/tap on the Navigation pane button in the ribbon, and click/tap on Show all folders to toggle it on (checked) or off (unchecked - default). (see screenshot below)








OPTION THREE [/i] To Turn On or Off 'Show all folders' from File Explorer Options
1. Open File Explorer Options.

2. In the View tab under the Navigation pane section, check (on) or uncheck (off - default) Show all folders for what you want set, and click/tap on OK. (see screenshot below)









OPTION FOUR [/i] To Turn On or Off 'Show all folders' using a BAT file


Note The .bat files below are for changing the DWORD value in the registry key below.

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced

NavPaneShowAllFolders DWORD

0 = Off
1 = On

1. Do step 2 or step 3 below for what you would like to do.


2. To Turn Off 'Show all folders' in Navigation Pane
NOTE: This is the default setting.
A) Click/tap on the Download button below to download the BAT file below, and go to step 4 below.

Turn_Off_Show-all-folders_in_Navigation_Pane.bat

Download

3. To Turn On 'Show all folders' in Navigation Pane
A) Click/tap on the Download button below to download the BAT file below, and go to step 4 below.

Turn_On_Show-all-folders_in_Navigation_Pane.bat

Download
4. Save the .bat file to your desktop, and run the .bat file.

5. If prompted, click/tap on Run to approve.
NOTE: If you like, you can unblock the .bat file to stop getting the Run prompt.

6. You will now notice your screen flicker and a command prompt quickly opens and closes as explorer is restarted to apply the registry changes.

7. When finished, you can delete the downloaded .bat file if you like.


That's it,
Shawn


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:)

 

Windows Explorer

Since my last message I figured out why the OneDrive folder was under Desktop. On the File Explorer > View Menu > Navigation Pane settings I had check to Show all folders and this shows a Desktop folder with everything underneath it. So all I had to
do was turn that off. Oh well, it's OK that I rebuilt it as I had some other things wrong and I needed to clean things up anyway.

 

Can't view the sub folders through Navigation Pane

Original title:- File Explorer, Windows 10

In W10, the subfolders in the Navigation Pane don't show when you open a folder from the Navigation Pane like they did in W7. So to move a file or folder to a different location or subfolder, one has to go back to the Navigation Pane and click on the arrows
to open down to the desired subfolder. It does prevent cluttering of the Nav Pane, but requires a lot of work if the desired folder is deeply embedded.

Phil

 

hi.
i just want it not to show the user folder.
can it be done? i want all the other folders though, i just dont need the user and it's really annoying and useless!!!!

 

Hello pinklotus,

Not that I'm aware of when you have "Show all folders" checked. *Sad

If you like, look under N in the tutorial index for the "Navigation Pane add/remove" tutorials. You could uncheck "Show all folders", and manually add the folders you wanted instead.