When we open the File Explorer in Windows 11/10, it displays a Navigation pane where you can see This PC, Desktop, Home, and other items. Selecting an item shows the folders and sub-folders on the right section. However, when you access a folder/sub-folder from the right section, the Navigation pane doesn’t expand automatically to match the folder. You need to do that manually by clicking on the small arrow pointing to the left in the Navigation pane for that folder. In this article, we will help you make the File Explorer Navigation pane automatically expand to open the folder in Windows 11/10.
Make File Explorer Navigation pane expand to open folder
We are talking about automatically expanding the folder in the Navigation pane when you access a folder in Windows 11/10 File Explorer. There are three ways to do it:
- Use the File Explorer Navigation pane right-click menu
- Change the Navigation pane setting from the Folder Options
- Change via Registry Settings.
Use these tips smartly. Some of these work temporarily, while others are a permanent solution. The registry hack should be used if you are configuring a computer remotely. You should also restart the File Explorer to successfully apply any of these solutions.
Just before we go ahead, let’s get to know a bit about each of these options:
- Show libraries: Displays all the libraries.
- Show all folders: It displays all the folders, including those that are on the desktop in the left-hand pane.
- Expand to the current folder: It does two things on the Navigation pane
- Automatically display the root of the selected folder (in the right pane) along with a list of all the folders inside it.
- When you click on any of the folders listed on the left pane, it will automatically expand in the Explorer navigation pane.
1] Use the File Explorer Navigation pane right-click menu
Once you open the File Explorer, right-click on an empty space in the Navigation pane, and you can choose between — Show libraries, Show all folders, and Expand to current folder.
2] Change the Navigation pane setting from the Folder Options
In the File Explorer, click on the three vertical dots icon available next to the View menu and select Options. This will open the Folder Options window. Switch to the View tab and then scroll to the end. Here you will have the option to Expand to open the folder. Select that option and press OK.
Next time you double-click on any folder, the Navigation pane will expand to that folder automatically if applicable.
3] Change via Registry Settings
Use the Registry editor when you have to change options on a couple of computers remotely. If you are not well-versed in editing Registry entries, do not use it.
Open the Search box, type regedit, and press the Enter key.
It will open the Registry Editor window.
Navigate to –
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced
There are two settings that you can change.
NavPaneShowAllFolders relates to the Show all folders option.
NavPaneExpandToCurrentFolder relates to the Expand to the current folder option.
Change the value from 0 to 1 to enable it.
Click OK and exit to see the changes.
Too many expanded folders can be overwhelming. So unless you have a task that requires viewing all the folders, keep this off.
I hope this helps.
How do I expand a folder in the Navigation pane?
There are two ways to expand a folder in the Navigation pane of File Explorer in Windows 11/10. You can right-click on that folder and select the Expand option in the context menu. The second option is to click on the > icon present before the name of that folder in the Navigation pane.
How do I make Windows Explorer open to a specific folder?
To make File Explorer open to a specific folder in Windows 11/10, first, create a desktop shortcut and add the following path or location for that shortcut in the wizard:
%SYSTEMROOT%\explorer.exe /e, FolderPath
Replace FolderPath with the actual path of the folder (say C:\Users\TWC\Desktop\TWCFolder) and complete the shortcut wizard. Pin that shortcut to the taskbar. Now whenever you click this shortcut of File Explorer, it will always open with that particular folder.
Read next: How to set a default Folder View for all folders in Windows PC.
