Favorite Folders not the same in Windows 10

If you used the favorite folder feature in Windows 8 and below know that while it looks almost the same in Windows 10 – it is different. Windows 10 replaced the Favorites list with the Quick Access (i.e. pinned folders) list. Windows 10 now automatically adds frequently used folders to this list, to help Windows users who never customized the Favorites with their most-used folders. This has caused frustration for several clients. To make it function like the old favorites (and give you back the control over your favorite folders), please do the following:

Click on
• Start,
• File Explorer,
• File (upper left corner of the screen),
• Change folder and search options
o Under Privacy at the bottom of the window, uncheck “Show frequently used folders in Quick access.”

Also, you will notice that the File Explorer (aka Windows Explorer) now shows the Quick Access view, which provides access to frequently used folders and recently used files. But you might want to see the “This PC” view instead — it’s more like the traditional My Computer view on older versions of Windows that displayed connected devices and drives. It also displays your user account’s folders — Desktop, Documents, Downloads, Music, Pictures, and Videos. To make File Explorer open to the This PC view, click
• Start,
• File Explorer
• File menu (upper left corner of the screen),
• “Change folder and search options.”
• Click the “Open File Explorer to” box at the top of the window and select “This PC” instead of “Quick access.”