How to Change Quick Access in File Explorer on Windows 10

This practical guide walks through how to change quick access in file explorer on Windows 10, explains the main requirements, and highlights common issues that may appear along the way.

1. How to add, type folders in Quick Access

To quickly access a certain folder right at the Quick Access menu, right-click the folder and select Pin to Quick access in the displayed menu.

The resulting folder you choose will be right in the Quick Access list for quick access. Or a faster way to do it is to drag the folder and then drop it into the Quick Access menu interface.

To unpin a folder or any content from the Quick Access menu, we just need to right-click the shortcut in Quick Access, then select Unpin from Quick access.

2. Show Pinned Folders Only in Quick Access

Quick Access shows many frequently accessed and heavily accessed items in the menu in addition to those that you pin for quick access. If we want to compact the Quick Access list, we will customize it to only show the pinned item in Quick Access.

At the File Explorer interface, click View and then select Options.

Display the custom interface, now we uncheck the two items Show recently used in Quick Access and Show frequently used folders in Quick Access. Then click Apply and OK to save the changes.

How to customize the Quick Access Toolbar

Quick Access Toolbar also displays small icons on the same interface to access essential functions in File Explorer.

To add commands to the Quick Access Toolbar, click View to expand the interface. Then right-click the command and select Add to Quick Access Toolbar. For example, select the Preview pane.

The Preview pane results are displayed on the Quick Access Toolbar.

To unpin this feature, right-click and select Remove from Quick Access Toolbar.

To change the position of the Quick Access Toolbar, click the down arrow and select Show below the ribbon. The Quick Access Toolbar will now appear under the title bar.