File Explorer is one of the crucial components of the Windows operating system. It allows us to navigate and manage files and folders on our PC. One of the most useful features of File Explorer is the ability to pin frequently accessed folders. It helps us navigate to the folders we frequently use in just a few clicks rather than long navigation into a series of folders. However, some users are seeing their Quick Access pinned folders are missing or have disappeared on their Windows 11/10 PCs. In this guide, we have a few solutions that can help you fix it.
What causes Quick Access pinned folders to go missing?
There can be several reasons for Quick Access pinned folders to go missing or to be deleted. Some of the common causes are:
- Accidental deletion: You might have deleted the pins accidentally by selecting Unpin from Quick Access in the context menu of that folder.
- Resetting File Explorer: If you have reset the File Explorer setting, the folders you pin to the Quick Access menu might go missing or deleted.
- Corrupted files: Sometimes, corruptions in the system files may also cause file explorer pins to go missing or deleted.
- Third-party Programs: The program you recently installed might also cause the problem.
Quick Access pinned folders missing or disappeared in Windows 11/10
If the Quick Access pinned folders are missing or have disappeared in Windows 11/10, you can follow the below methods to fix it.
- Reset Folder settings
- Manually Pin the folders
- Recover deleted folders
- Uninstall recently installed programs or tools
- Run SFC scan
Let’s get into the details of each method and fix the issue.
1] Reset Folder settings
If there is an issue that we don’t know of yet on our PC that interferes with File Explorer, you might see this issue occur. You need to reset the Folder settings to fix that.
- Open File Explorer and click on the three-dot button in the Menu bar
- Select Options
- Then, click on the View tab
- Click on the Reset Folders button under the Folder views section
- Select Yes on the prompt
See if it has fixed the issue.
Read: Quick Access menu missing in Windows 11
2] Manually Pin the folders
After you have reset the Folder settings, you can now manually pin the folders you regularly use to the Quick access menu. The pins you create now might not get deleted or go missing if they were deleted with an error in Folder settings.
To manually pin the folders to the Quick access menu, Right-click on the folder you want to pin and select Pin to Quick access.
Read: How to show or remove Quick access and Favorites from Navigation Pane of Explorer
3] Recover deleted folders
If the entire folder and its contents are deleted along with its pins on your PC, you need to recover them using third-party data recovery software programs. There are some of the best free data recovery software as well as professional data recovery software that can help you get every file back. Though it may take some time to scan and recover them, the process is worth a try to get the files back.
Read: Quick Access is not working or is slow to open
4] Uninstall recently installed programs or tools
If the Explorer pins are still missing even after pinning them manually, you need to follow this step. There are chances that a recently installed program or tool on your PC might have interfered with the File Explorer. You need to uninstall that software or tool you have recently installed to fix the error.
5] Run SFC scan
If none of the above methods helped you fix the problem, the error might have occurred due to corrupted or missing system files.
You need to run an SFC scan to fix the errors with system files. It will find the files that are missing or corrupted and fix them automatically, thereby fixing the issue.
Read: File Explorer not highlighting selected files and folders
How do I get quick access back in File Explorer?
To get Quick access back in File Explorer, you can reset Folder options and set folder settings to default. To do that, open File Explorer and click on the three-dot button on the Menu. Then, select Options and click on the View tab. Under the Folder view section, click on the Reset Folders button. Click on the Restore Defaults button under the Advanced settings button to restore folder options to default.
Related read: How to set a default Folder View for all folders in Windows.
