Windows 10 and Windows 11 come with a new homepage for File Explorer called Quick Access (or Home, in recent versions of Windows 11). This page highlights recent files, frequent folders, and more, and while it can be useful, it's not for everyone. If you don't want to have the Quick Access page in File Explorer, here's how to remove it.

These steps work for both Windows 10 and the original version of Windows 11, but not if you have more recent versions of Windows 11 that added tabs and other changes.

Change the default home page for File Explorer

Before you disable Quick Access entirely, you have to set the default launch page for File Explorer to This PC. If not, File Explorer will show an error every time you open it, since it tries to open Quick Access by default. Here's how to do that:

  1. Open File Explorer
  2. On Windows 10, click File in the top left corner, then choose Change folder and search options.
    • On Windows 11, click the ellipsis button in the menu bar, then click Options.
  3. Open the dropdown menu next to Open File Explorer to and choose This PC (you can also choose your OneDrive folder in Windows 11).
  4. Click OK.

How to remove Quick Access from File Explorer on Windows

Now that that's done, you can disable Quick Access entirely if you want to. Here's how:

  1. Open the Start menu and search for Registry Editor or regedit. Choose the first option.
  2. In the address bar, enter this path: Computer\HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{679f85cb-0220-4080-b29b-5540cc05aab6}\ShellFolder.
  3. Right-click the ShellFolder folder on the left pane and choose Permissions.
  4. Click Advanced.
  5. Next to Owner: SYSTEM, click Change.
  6. Click Advanced.
  7. Click Find Now.
  8. In the search results box, choose Administrators.
  9. Click OK to confirm the choice, then click OK two more times until the Permissions window is back in focus.
  10. In this window, select Administrators.
  11. Click the checkbox under Allow next to Full control.
  12. Click OK.
  13. Back in the Registry Editor, on the right-side pane, double-click Attributes.
  14. Change the value to a0600000 and click OK.
  15. Restart your computer.

After the computer restarts, you should see that the Quick Access (or Home) page in File Explorer no longer appears anywhere in File Explorer. At any time, you can re-add it by heading back into the same page in the Registry Editor and changing the value back to a010000.

Make File Explorer work better for you

Disabling Quick Access is just one of the many ways you can make File Explorer a more useful tool for your needs. We have a whole guide on how to use File Explorer if you want to learn all the ins and outs of this essential tool. If you're looking for other kinds of personalize your laptop or PC, check out how to customize Windows 11 in general.