- File Explorer is one of the most historical elements of the Windows operating system.
- Sometimes, we make the mistake of removing an access because we believe that we will not need it.
- You can force your PC to recover the menu and you just have to return to the original configuration
- What are the steps to follow to make File Explorer look like it did at startup?
File Explorer is one of the most useful and historical elements of Microsoft’s PC operating system. It’s always been there, but it’s never been as configurable as it is now. That’s why, If you want to customize this menu in Windows 10/11, we will show you the steps to recover a “lost” shortcut.
Sometimes we make the mistake of removing a shortcut because we think that in the future we won’t need it. Then we need it and that’s when we regret the mistake we just made. But don’t worry, all this has a solution and it’s much easier than you think. You should only know a few procedures.
It is that you can force Windows to recover the menu as it was, showing all the initial objects. You just have to return to the original configurationsomething that is not too complicated to do.
Reconfigure your File Explorer step by step
Whenever you can’t see your favorite shortcut menu and you’d rather recover it than do anything else, you need to launch File Manager from Start to start the menu recovery process.
- Open a File Explorer window by clicking Win + E
- At the top of the window, click on the three dots and select Options
- In the Folder Options window, at the top, click the General tab
- Once there, select the Open File Explorer to… dropdown menu and Start
- Save the changes by clicking Apply, followed by OK at the bottom
- Close and reopen File Explorer, checking the shortcuts
In general, the normal thing would be that the lost shortcut would be there back among the others.
What to do if that doesn’t happen?
Re-pin charms
In that case, you need to re-pin the items to Quick Access to make them appear in the menu again. You have to look for the items in the File Explorer window and right click on each one. Immediately the context menu of each of these files opens, press Pin to quick access.
Automatically, Windows should add that app’s icon to the quick access menu.
Enable recent files
On the other hand, it is possible that your recent files have disappeared from the shortcuts. You just have to make sure that the option to show those files is enabled. As always, you will have to resort to File Explorer, Options, Folder Options, General, Show used files…. Once you hit Apply and OK, recent files should be among the shortcuts.
Clear your File Explorer history
Sometimes an anomaly in File Explorer can cause the shortcut menu to not look right. Even when it has been duly enabled. You should clear the history of your File Manager.
- Open a File Explorer window by clicking Win + E
- At the top of the window, click on the three dots and select Options
- In the Folder Options window, at the top, click the General tab
- Once there, select Clear File Explorer History
- Confirm the action by clicking Delete
At this point, File Explorer will clear all history, and Quick Access should be back.
conclusions
As you can see, it’s easy to bring back the quick access menu layout of your Windows operating system. You have to follow the instructions that we have just left you and sooner or later you will recover absolutely all those shortcuts that you have lost on your PC. All that shouldn’t take more than a few minutes.
Have you been able to recover a quick access or several with this series of tricks that we review?
