Fix: Cannot Unpin Windows FTP Links from Quick Access Menu

Some users are reporting being unable to unpin FTP locations from the Quick Access menu on Windows 10. This issue mostly occurs if the user tries to access an FTP server using File Explorer and ends up pining it to the quick action section to facilitate easy access. Sometimes the shortcut will glitch out and remain stuck, refusing to be unpinned from the Quick access menu.

Whenever this issue occurs, right-clicking on the pinned FTP folder will only show one option (Expand), which is also greyed out. Normally, right-clicking on a pinned FTP folder should display a whole plethora of additional options including the Unpin from Quick Acess menu option.

If you’re currently struggling with this particular issue, we have managed to identify two different fixes that you can use to get around this inconvenience. Please follow whichever method seems more convenable for you to resolve the issue and unpin the FTP Links from the quick access menu on Windows 10.

Method 1: Unpin multiple items at once

I know this might seem like a weird fix, but some users have discovered that if you select multiple items at once (including the FTP folder) that are pinned and then try to unpin them all at once, you’ll actually have the option to click on Unpin from Quick access.

Here’s a quick guide on how to do this:

1. Open File Explorer and expand the Quick access menu.
2. Next, select the pinned FTP folder and then hold the Ctrl key while selecting another pinned folder to do a multi-select.
3. With both pinned folders selected, right-click on any of them. Now the context menu options should be displayed correctly and you should be able to click on the Unpin from Quick access option.
   If this method wasn’t applicable or you’re looking for a different approach, move over to Method 2 where we clear all the quick access shortcuts.

Method 2: Clearing the Quick access shortcut folder

This issue can also be fixed by navigating to the AutomaticDestinations folder and deleting everything in there. This is the folder responsible for holding information about the pinned items in File Explorer.

Some users have reported managing to finally unpin the FTP folder from the Quick access menu after clearing the Quick access listing. Here’s a quick guide on how to do this:

1. Press Windows key + R to open up a Run window. Then, paste the following location into the Run box and hit Enter to open the AutomaticDestinations folder:

   %APPDATA%\Microsoft\Windows\Recent\AutomaticDestinations

2. Press Ctrl + A to select every file present in the AutomaticDestinations folder and delete them all.
   
3. Once the contents of the AutomaticDestinations folder have been deleted, close File Explorer and then open it again. The pinned FTP folder should no longer be visible in the Quick access menu.