How to remove Quick Access from Windows 10

Windows 10 brings surely brings a lot of new features and one of them is known as the Quick Access feature. Although there are plenty of people who like this feature but there are a few of us who don’t see any benefit of the Quick Access feature. Quick Access feature, if you aren’t familiar with it, basically lets you access the most recently used files of your computer. The Quick Access section is available on the left side of your Window Explorer (it should be the top on).

Why would anyone want to remove Quick Access?

You might be asking, why would anyone want to remove Quick Access? Just like any other feature, Quick Access is useful for some while completely useless for others. Since it isn’t a basic feature that needs to be on the Windows in order for your Windows to work, people might want to get rid of it.

The reasons may vary from person to person. I, personally, have never used the Quick Access feature but I am not bothered by it to a point where I would want to remove it. For some people, it might be bothering to have something that they aren’t going to use or it might be taking up space that they don’t like. But, the biggest reason why people get rid of it is the privacy factor. If anyone else uses your computer then they will be able to see the most recently used file on your computer. This might not be a big deal for you but it certainly is for a lot of people especially the ones who like to keep their activities private. So, the reason depends on the person.

How to remove Quick Access

There are basically two methods that can be used to get rid of the Quick Access.

Method 1: The first one won’t actually remove the Quick Access from your File Explorer but rather turn off the Quick Access feature. This basically means that the Quick Access section will be visible on the File Explorer but you won’t be able to see the most recently used files in it. This method is suitable for those who don’t want other people to look at their most recently used files. It is a quick method that doesn’t require any technical knowledge.

Method 2: The other method is a bit complicated and takes a bit of time. But, this method will completely remove the Quick Access from your File Explorer. This means that there won’t even be a Quick Access section in your File Explorer. So, if you are looking to free up the space on the left pane then go for the second method.

Now, let’s have a look at the steps involved in performing these steps

Method 1: Turn off Quick Access

Follow the steps given below to turn off the Quick Access feature

1. Hold Windows key and press E
2. Right click the Quick Access (from the left pane) and select Options

3. Select This PC from the drop down menu in Open File Explorer to: section

4. Uncheck the options Show recently used files in Quick Access and Show frequently used folders in Quick Access
5. Click Apply then select Ok

That’s it. Once you press ok, your recently used files and folders won’t show up on the Quick Access.

Method 2: Remove Quick Access

As mentioned above, this method will completely remove the Quick Access section from your File Explorer.

Note: This method will also remove the drag and drop feature of your File Explorer. This means that you won’t be able to drag and drop files to and from the File Explorer to any other place. You will have to copy/paste the files.

Note: You must be signed in as administrator in order for this method to work properly.

1. Hold Windows key and press E
2. Right click the Quick Access (from the left pane) and select Options

3. Select This PC from the drop down menu in Open File Explorer to: section
4. Click Apply then select Ok

5. Hold Windows key and press R
6. Type regedit.exe and press Enter

7. Navigate to this address HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{679f85cb-0220-4080-b29b-5540cc05aab6}\ShellFolder. If you don’t know how to navigate to this address then follow the steps given below
   1. Locate and double click HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT from the left pane

2. Locate and double click CLSID from the left pane

3. Locate and double click {679f85cb-0220-4080-b29b-5540cc05aab6} from the left pane

8. Now, before we do any changes in ShellFolder, we need to take the ownership of this specific folder/registry. Locate and right click ShellFolder from the left pane
9. Select Permissions

10. Select Security tab and select Advanced

11. Click Change in the Owner section. Click yes if it asks to confirm

12. Click Advanced

13. Click Find Now. A new list of account names will appear in the bottom section of the window named search results

14. Select the name of your account. The one that you are logged in as and want to set the owner of the ShellFolder
15. Click Ok

16. Now, you should be back on the Select User or Group Select Ok again

17. Now, you should be back to the Advanced Security for ShellFolder. You should be able to see the name of your account in the Owner section. That means everything was done right
18. Check the option Replace owner on subcontainers and objects (if it is there) and press Ok

19. Select Yes if it asks for confirmation
20. Now, we need to set the permissions for the ShellFolder. Right click ShellFolder from the left pane
21. Select Permissions

22. Select Add

23. Click Advanced

24. Click Find Now. A new list of account names will appear in the bottom section of the window named search results

25. Select the name of your account. The one that you are logged in as and want to set the owner of the ShellFolder
26. Click Ok

27. Select the newly added user from the Group or User names section
28. Check the Full Control’s Allow option from the Permissions for “your selected account name” You need to give full control over this folder so you will select the allow option. So check that option.
29. Click Apply then Ok

30. Now that we have taken the permissions and allowed full control, it’s time to make the changes to remove Quick Access. Click ShellFolder and double click Attributes entry from the right pane.

31. Make sure the Hexadecimal option is selected in the Base section. Type a0600000 in the Value data and click Ok

That’s it. Now close all the windows and restart your PC. Once your system is rebooted, there should be no Quick Access section in the File Explorer.

Note: If you want to bring the Quick Access back then follow the steps given above and enter a0100000 in place of a0600000 in the last step. a0100000 is the default value so setting Attributes to this value will bring back the Quick Access.