Windows 10 Quick Access menu: customize and edit

Windows 10's Quick Access menu facilitates access to your frequently used files, folders, and content by placing them at the top of the File Explorer's sidebar. This tutorial will help you to navigate this new feature.

How to pin folders to the Quick Access menu?

1) Click on the Start menu > File Explorer.

2) Navigate to the desired folder and click on Pin to Quick access:

3) The selected folder will now appear in the File Explorer's Quick access section.

4) The folder will also appear in the Pinned list.

You can access your pinned content by going into Start > File Explorer > Pinned.

How to remove recent files and folders from Quick Access?

Windows 10 will also display files and folders you've recently used in the Quick access menu. You can refresh the list of recent items or prevent them from showing up in Quick access by going into Folder Options.

While in the File Explorer, select the View tab and click on the Options button to open Folder Options.

Go to General tab > Privacy and click on the Clear button (displayed next to Clear File Explorer history) to refresh the list of recent items.

You can turn off this feature by clearing the checkboxes next Show recently used files in Quick access and Show frequently used folders in Quick access:

Click on Apply > OK to apply your new settings.

How to open File Explorer in "This PC" view?

By default, the File Explorer of Windows 10 will open in the Quick access view. You can change this setting by going into the Folder Options. Once there, click on the dropdown menu next to Open File Explorer to select This PC.

Click on Apply > OK.