The Windows 10 comes with a Quick Access option in the File Explorer. Quick Access view has more uses for me than anyone else I know. Between, writing docs & editing images and finally uploading them to the server becomes easy when you don’t have to navigate through multiple folders to access the recently edited files (image, docs, videos) but directly to access it from the File Explorer’s Quick View section.

But, not everyone wants to have their recent activities visible to everyone who accesses the computer. If you are of the opinion that Quick Access Menu looks better when disabled, then this article will help you do the same. In this post, I will show you how to customize the File Explorer in Windows to disable Recently Files option. If you also want to completely remove, Quick Access and OneDrive icon from the File Explorer, this guides covers it as well.

Disable Quick Access / Recent Files in File Explorer – Windows 10

Microsoft has given an option to disable Quick Access for those who want to keep their recent activities private. You can disable the Recent Files section in the File Explorer from the options.

1. Open File Explorer from the taskbar.

2. By default, File Explorer will open the Quick Access section. Right-click on Quick Access icon and select Options.

3. In the Folder Options window, you need to uncheck two options under the Privacy section.

So, uncheck the following two options.

• “Show recently used files in Quick Access.”
• “Show frequently used folders in Quick Access.”

4. Click the Clear button below the options to clear recent file history which is already visible from the File Explorer.

5. Click Apply and then click OK to save the changes.

The next time you open File Explorer, you will not see the Recent Files section under Quick Access.

Note that this will not remove Quick Access icon from the File Explorer’s left-side pane but will only disable recent files and frequently used folder option.

If you want to remove Quick Access icon from the File Explorer’s left-side pane, scroll down and read the Remove Icons from File Explorer part below. It will also help you to remove the OneDrive folder icon from the File Explorer/ This PC navigation pane.

Open “File Explorer” to This PC Instead Quick Access

By default File Explorer opens Quick Access option to show you recently accessed files and frequently used folders. But, if you want to open This PC or My Computer instead, here is how to do it.

1. Open “File Explorer” from the Taskbar.

2. At the top, click the View tab. From the top-right corner, click Options and select “Change folder and search option.”

4. The “Open File Explorer to” option is set to Quick Access by default. To change it, click the Drop-down button and select “This PC” from the option.

5. Click Apply and OK to save the changes.

Remove Quick Access, OneDrive and Other Icons from This PC

To be able to remove icons such as Quick Access and OneDrive from the left pane of This PC, you need to edit the Registry Key in the Registry Editor. So, make sure you follow the steps correctly.

There are multiple icons, hence I have listed the steps to remove each icon separately.

Remove OneDrive Icon

1. To do this, you need to open the Registry Editor. Press WIN + R key to open the run dialogue box. Type regedit in it and hit enter.

2. From the registry editor, navigate to the following key:

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{018D5C66-4533-4307-9B53-224DE2ED1FE6}

The best way to find any key in Registry Editor is to use the Find option.

• To find the key, right-click on HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT and select Find.
  
  
• In the “Find what:” field, enter {018D5C66-4533-4307-9B53-224DE2ED1FE6}.
  
• Make sure you uncheck Values and Data under “Look at” section and only keep Keys option checked.
• Click Find Next. Once the search is complete, you will be automatically navigated to the searched key.

3. In the right-side pane, double-click on System.IsPinnedToNameSpaceTree.

4. In the DWORD window, enter 0 replacing 1 as Value Data.

That’s it. The OneDrive icon from the File Explorer / This PC pane is removed.

Remove Quick Access Icon

1. Open Registry Editor and navigate to the following key:

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{679f85cb-0220-4080-b29b-5540cc05aab6}\ShellFolder 

• Right-click on HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT and select Find.
• Enter ShellFolder as the search term and uncheck Values and Data option.
• Once found, right-click on ShellFolder and take the ownership of the registry key. You can read my other guide on how to take ownership of Registry Key here.

3. After taking the ownership, from the right-side pane double-click on Attributes.

4. In the DWORD window, enter a0600000 in Value data. Close Registry Editor.

5. Now you need to restart the File Explorer process from the task manager to save the changes.

6. Right-click on the Taskbar and open Task Manager.

7. From the Process tab, right-click on Windows Explorer and select Restart.

Remove Extra External Drive Icon

Whenever you add an external drive to your PC, you can see two icons of the same Drive displayed under This PC. If you want to remove the extra drive icon, here is how to do it.

1. Open Registry Editor.

2. Navigate to the following key using the find option.

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer
\CommonPlaces\NameSpace\DelegateFolders\{d34a6ca6-62c2-4c34-8a7c-14709c1ad938}

3. Delete the {d34a6ca6-62c2-4c34-8a7c-14709c1ad938} key and it will remove the extra drive icon in the File Explorer / This PC.

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There are times when you may need to edit one of the registry keys in Windows 10. However, Windows protects some registry keys by not granting full permission to the users and administrators. To make any modification to these keys, you need to take ownership of that particular key.  here is how to take ownership of a registry key in Windows 10.

Why you need full permission to edit a registry key? suppose you want to remove the Quick Access icon from the navigation pane in File Explorer. To make that happen you need to edit a registry key in the registry editor requires that you take ownership of the key before you can edit it. Whenever you want to edit, modify, delete, create a new registry key, or its value that is protected by Window, you can do so by taking ownership of the key. If not, Windows will show the following errors:

Error Deleting Values

Unable to delete all specified values

Error Editing Value

Cannot edit value. Error writing the value’s new contents

Error Renaming Value

The Registry Editor cannot rename value. Error while renaming value

Error Creating Key

Cannot create key: You do not have the requisite permissions to create a new key under key

Error Creating Value

Cannot create value: Error writing to the registry

If you encounter any of the following error, it means you don’t have full permission to make changes to the registry key or its values.

There are two ways to take ownership of registry keys. You can assign full permission to a registry key from the registry editor or use the Command Prompt with SetACL to do the same.

Method 1: Take Ownership Using Command Line (SetACL)

SetACL makes it easy to grant full permission to any registry key in Windows 10. It is a third-party utility, and you need to download it onto your computer before you can use it.

1. Download SetACL from here. Make sure you download the executable (.exe) version for the administrator.

2. Extract the downloaded file, and it will have both 32-bit and 64-bit version exe files. You need to use the version that is compatible with your PC.

3. Move the SetACL.exe file to C:\Windows\System32 folder. Simply copy and paste the file.

4. Open Command prompt as Administrator. To do this, press Windows key + X and select Command Prompt (Admin) from the options.

5. Type the following command in the command prompt:

SetACL -on name -ot type -actn action

6. Hit Enter ↵ to execute.

7. Now you need to enter two commands followed by the registry key of which you want to take ownership. You need to change the registry key in the following command and keep everything else as it is. See the example below and later proceed with the command.

Example of the Registry Key to want to take Ownership: 

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{018D5C66-4533-4307-9B53-224DE2ED1FE6}

Command 1: It will make the administrator as the owner of the registry key.

SetACL.exe -on "HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{018D5C66-4533-4307-9B53-224DE2ED1FE6}" -ot reg -actn setowner -ownr "n:Administrators"

Command 2: It will grant full permission to the administrator for the registry key.

SetACL.exe -on "HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{018D5C66-4533-4307-9B53-224DE2ED1FE6}" -ot reg -actn ace -ace "n:Administrators;p:full"

That’s it. Now that you have taken ownership of the registry key, you can proceed to edit the key.

You can read more about the use of SetACL here.

Method 2: Take Ownership Using the Registry Editor

This is the old school way to take the permission of any registry key in Windows 10 and other versions.

1. Open Registry Editor by pressing Windows key + R, type regedit and hit enter.

2. Navigate to the registry key that you want to take ownership of and Right-click on it.

3. Select the Permissions option.

4. In the permissions for the display window, click Advanced.

5. In the owner section, the key has Trusted Installer as the Owner. Click Change to change the owner.

6. In the new window, type your username and click the Check Names button.

7. Select your username in the box and click OK to save the changes.

8. Again in the “Permissions for Display window“, select your username and check the “Full Control” option in the “Allow” section.

9. Click Apply and OK to save the changes.

This should give you the full permission on the registry key.

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