Restore lost File Explorer icons on Windows 10 Start Menu

By default, Windows 10 displays the File Explorer icon in the lower left corner of the Start Menu, as well as on the Taskbar so that users can easily open File Explorer quickly.

Another way is to press the Windows + E key combination to open File Explorer. However, most users often use how to click the File Explorer icon to access File Explorer faster.

However, in some cases or for some reason, the File Explorer icon is lost on the Windows 10 Start Menu. In the following article, the Network Administrator will show you four ways to recover the lost File Explorer icon. on Windows 10 Start Menu.

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1. Check on the Settings menu

Step 1:

Open the Settings menu by clicking the Settings icon in the lower left corner of the Start menu or alternatively press the Windows + I key combination to open the Settings menu.

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Step 2:

On the Settings window, click Personalization then click Start .

Step 3:

Click on the Choose which folders appear on Start link , then activate the File Explorer option to ON to add File Explorer to the Start Menu.

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However, if the File Explorer option is grayed out, switch to apply method 2 in the next tutorial.

2. Restore lost File Explorer shortcut on Start Menu

If on the Settings menu, the File Explorer option is gray, most likely because the File Explorer shortcut is lost on the Start Menu Places folder. In this case you must add a File Explorer shortcut to Start Menu Places to activate the File Explorer option on the Settings menu.

Step 1:

Download the Explorer.zip file to your computer, then proceed to extract the zip file to open the File Explorer shortcut.

Download Explorer.zip to your device here.

Step 2:

Press the Windows + R key combination to open the Run command window. On the Run command window, enter the path below and press Enter to open the Start Menu Places folder:

C: ProgramDataMicrosoftWindowsStart Menu Places

Note: The above command can replace drive C with the drive you installed Windows 10.

Step 3:

Copy and paste the File Explorer shortcut into the Start Menu Places folder, then click Continue if a confirmation dialog box appears.

Step 4:

Open the Settings menu and select Personalizations , click Start , click the Start folder, then activate the File Explorer icon.

3. Another way to fix File Explorer errors on the Settings menu

Step 1:

Press the Windows + R key combination to open the Run command window. Here you enter the link below and press Enter to open the Start Menu Places folder:

C: ProgramDataMicrosoftWindowsStart Menu Places

Note: The above command can replace drive C with the drive you installed Windows 10.

Step 2:

After the Start Menu Places folder opens, right-click any space and select Properties.

Step 3:

On the Previous Versions tab, select the oldest date and click Restore.

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Step 4:

Check the folder to see if the File Explorer shortcut appears.

Step 5:

Open the Settings menu => Personalization => Start => Choose which folders appear on Start , then activate the File Explorer option.

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4. Other ways

Step 1:

First create a File Explorer shortcut.

To do this, right-click any space on the Desktop, then click New => Shortcut to open the Create Shortcut wizard.

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Step 2:

Enter the path below into the box Type the location of the item:

% windir% explorer.exe

Then click Next .

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Step 3:

Name the shortcut File File and then click Finish to create the File Explorer shortcut on the Desktop.

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Step 4:

Next press the Windows + R key combination to open the Run command window. On the Run command window, enter the path below and press Enter to open the Start Menun Places folder:

C: ProgramDataMicrosoftWindowsStart Menu Places

Note: The above command can replace drive C with the drive you installed Windows 10.

Step 5:

After the Start Menu Places folder is opened, copy and paste the File Explorer shortcut you just created on the Desktop to the Start Menu Places folder. Maintaining the directory is always open.

Click Continue when the confirmation dialog appears.

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Step 6:

Open the Settings menu and then navigate to the folder that appears on Start (Settings => Personalization => Start).

Activate the File Explorer option to ON to bring up the File Explorer icon on Windows 10 Start Menu.

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Refer to some of the following articles:

1. Unlock and improve Windows 10 features with 5 Registry tricks

1. Fix Windows 10 error with just one click with FixWin

1. Activate Dark Theme on Windows 10

1. Trick to free up Windows 10 computer hard drive space

Good luck!