If you changed the Navigation pane width in File Explorer on Windows 11/10, and you want to now get it back to the default width, then you can reset the File Explorer Navigation pane width to default with the help of the Registry Editor.
The Navigation pane in File Explorer shows Quick Access, This PC (including hard drives), Library folders (such as Music, Videos, Pictures, etc.), and Network drives. By default, Windows shows a set width, which doesn’t get changed even if a folder or partition name is hidden because of it. However, if you altered the Navigation pane width earlier and you now want to restore the default width, there are two ways to do it.
First, you can click the edge of the navigation panel and drag it towards the left or right side. However, this trick works if you remember the width preciously. The second way is to use the Registry Editor to delete a value citing the current width of the navigation pane.
Reset Explorer navigation pane width to default
To reset the Navigation pane width of Windows 11/10 File Explorer, follow these steps-
- Press Win+R to open the Run prompt.
- Type regedit and hit the Enter button.
- Click the YES button in the UAC prompt.
- Navigate to the Sizer Registry key in Registry Editor.
- Delete the PageSpaceControlSizer value.
- Restart File Explorer.
Before going forward, you should backup Registry files and create a System Restore point first.
Now, press the Win+R hotkey, type regedit and hit the Enter button. It will show you the UAC prompt where you need to click the YES button.
Following that, your PC should open Registry Editor. Next, navigate to the following path-
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Modules\GlobalSettings\Sizer
Here you will see a DWORD (32-bit) Value called PageSpaceControlSizer. This is the current width set to the Navigation pane.
You need to delete this value. For that, right-click on it and select the Delete option.
Following that, click the Yes button to confirm the removal.
Now, you need to restart File Explorer. Also, close and open File Explorer if it is opened already. You should see the default width of the Navigation panel now.
For your information, the PageSpaceControlSizer value gets created automatically whenever you open the File Explorer and the data changes when users change the width manually.
That’s all!
How to set default view in File Explorer Windows 11?
To set a default Folder View for all folders in Windows 11/10 PC, open the File Explorer, and access a folder. Next, open the View menu, and select a view mode (Details, Extra large icons, List, etc.). Click on Options present under the three vertical dots menu. When the Folder Options window is opened, switch to the View tab, and press the Apply to Folders button. Finally, press the OK button.
How do I fix File Explorer layout in Windows 11?
If Windows keeps resetting Folder View preferences or forgets Folder View settings set by you on your Windows 11/10 PC, then try to reset folder view settings. For this, open the Folder Options > View tab > and press the Reset Folders button. If that doesn’t work, look for BagMRU and Bags name Registry keys in the Registry Editor, and delete them. Restart your computer and this should work.
Read next: Explorer Address bar and Menu bar are missing in Windows 11.
