If you have installed Google Drive on your computer, then you can add Google Drive link to the Navigation Pane of File Explorer in Windows 11/10. This will make it quite easy for you to access it. You will need to make use of the Registry Editor to do the job for you.
Previously, Google Drive used to get added automatically to the navigation pane in File Explorer right after installation. However, things has changed over the years, and now you need to add it manually. As you are going to change a few things in the Registry Editor, it is recommended to first create a System Restore point or generate a Registry file backup.
How to add Google Drive to File Explorer
To add Google Drive in File Explorer navigation pane in Windows 10, follow these steps-
- Open Notepad on your computer.
- Paste the required Registry code and save it as a .reg file
- Next, double-click on the .reg file.
- Add the contents to your Registry.
- Restart Windows Explorer.
First, you need to open Notepad and paste the following text-
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\CLSID\{3935ea0f-5756-4db1-8078-d2baf2f7b7b2}]
@="Google Drive"
"System.IsPinnedToNamespaceTree"=dword:00000001
"SortOrderIndex"=dword:00000042
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\CLSID\{3935ea0f-5756-4db1-8078-d2baf2f7b7b2}\DefaultIcon]
@=hex(2):43,00,3a,00,5c,00,50,00,72,00,6f,00,67,00,72,00,61,00,6d,00,20,00,46,\
00,69,00,6c,00,65,00,73,00,5c,00,47,00,6f,00,6f,00,67,00,6c,00,65,00,5c,00,\
44,00,72,00,69,00,76,00,65,00,5c,00,67,00,6f,00,6f,00,67,00,6c,00,65,00,64,\
00,72,00,69,00,76,00,65,00,73,00,79,00,6e,00,63,00,2e,00,65,00,78,00,65,00,\
2c,00,30,00,00,00
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\CLSID\{3935ea0f-5756-4db1-8078-d2baf2f7b7b2}\InProcServer32]
@=hex(2):43,00,3a,00,5c,00,57,00,49,00,4e,00,44,00,4f,00,57,00,53,00,5c,00,73,\
00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,33,00,32,00,5c,00,73,00,68,00,65,00,6c,00,\
6c,00,33,00,32,00,2e,00,64,00,6c,00,6c,00,00,00
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\CLSID\{3935ea0f-5756-4db1-8078-d2baf2f7b7b2}\Instance]
"CLSID"="{0E5AAE11-A475-4c5b-AB00-C66DE400274E}"
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\CLSID\{3935ea0f-5756-4db1-8078-d2baf2f7b7b2}\Instance\InitPropertyBag]
"Attributes"=dword:00000011
"TargetFolderPath"=hex(2):25,00,55,00,73,00,65,00,72,00,50,00,72,00,6f,00,66,\
00,69,00,6c,00,65,00,25,00,5c,00,47,00,6f,00,6f,00,67,00,6c,00,65,00,20,00,\
44,00,72,00,69,00,76,00,65,00,00,00
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\CLSID\{3935ea0f-5756-4db1-8078-d2baf2f7b7b2}\ShellFolder]
"FolderValueFlags"=dword:00000028
"Attributes"=dword:f080004d
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\HideDesktopIcons\NewStartPanel]
"{3935ea0f-5756-4db1-8078-d2baf2f7b7b2}"=dword:00000001
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Desktop\NameSpace\{3935ea0f-5756-4db1-8078-d2baf2f7b7b2}]
@="Google Drive"
Then, click the File button and select Save As. Alternatively, you can press Ctrl+Shift+S buttons together.
Now you need to choose a location where you want to save the file.
Then, give your file a name with .reg extension. For example, if the file name is test-registry, it should be test-registry.reg. Following that, expand the Save as type drop-down list and select All Files. Now, you can click the Save button.
After saving the file, double-click on it. You can find the UAC prompt where you need to click the Yes button.
Right after that, a confirm window should appear where you can find a Yes button. As usual, you need to click on this button.
If everything goes correctly, you should see a success message.
This time, click the OK button to close the window and restart Windows Explorer to find Google Drive in the navigation pane.
The process of adding and removing is almost the same, but there is a change in the Registry code. To hide Google Drive from the sidebar panel, you need to delete or change some Registry keys and values. Here is how to do that.
How to remove Google Drive from File Explorer
To remove Google Drive from File Explorer navigation pane, follow these steps-
- pen REgistry Editor
- Navigate to CLSID in HKEY_CURRENT_USER.
- Delete {3935ea0f-5756-4db1-8078-d2baf2f7b7b2}.
- Navigate to NameSpace in HKEY_CURRENT_USER.
- Delete {3935ea0f-5756-4db1-8078-d2baf2f7b7b2}.
- Navigate to NewStartPanel in HKEY_CURRENT_USER.
- Delete {3935ea0f-5756-4db1-8078-d2baf2f7b7b2}.
- Restart Windows Explorer.
Open the Registry Editor and navigate to the following path-
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\CLSID\
Here you can find a key named {3935ea0f-5756-4db1-8078-d2baf2f7b7b2}.
Right-click on it, select Delete and confirm the change.
Next, navigate to this path-
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Desktop\NameSpace\
Find out {3935ea0f-5756-4db1-8078-d2baf2f7b7b2} key and follow the same steps as above to delete it.
Now, navigate to this path-
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\HideDesktopIcons\NewStartPanel
Find out {3935ea0f-5756-4db1-8078-d2baf2f7b7b2} key and go through the same steps to remove.
Google Drive should be removed immediately from the File Explorer navigation pane.
Alternatively, you can create a .reg file with the following Registry code, save it as a .reg file and run it:
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[-HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\CLSID\{3935ea0f-5756-4db1-8078-d2baf2f7b7b2}]
[-HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Desktop\NameSpace\{3935ea0f-5756-4db1-8078-d2baf2f7b7b2}]
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\HideDesktopIcons\NewStartPanel]
"{3935ea0f-5756-4db1-8078-d2baf2f7b7b2}"=-
I hope this tutorial would be helpful for you.
Read next: How to remove Dropbox from File Explorer Navigation Pane.
