Spotlight on How to Change the Default Folder in File Explorer

Customize the default folder of File Explorer: Detailed Guide

Want to have File Explorer open to a specific folder? Want to know how to change the default folder of File Explorer? This article will provide you with detailed steps to help you easily change the default folder of File Explorer.

By default, when you open File Explorer, you will see the Quick Access folder, which can access your commonly used folders and recent files. While this is convenient for many users, some users want to change the default folder and have the File Explorer open directly to a specific folder. If you are one of them, keep reading to learn about the specific approach.

How to change the default folder of File Explorer?

Method 1: Change the default folder to "This computer" or "Quick Access"

You can easily switch the default folders of File Explorer between Quick Access and This Computer using the Folder option.

Step 1: Press the Windows E key combination to open File Explorer.

Step 2: In File Explorer, click View > Options .

Step 3: In the General section, click the drop-down triangle next to "Open File Explorer" . Then select Quick Access or This Computer according to your needs. Finally, click OK to save the changes.

After that, each time you open File Explorer, you will navigate to Quick Access or This Computer based on the folder settings.

Another way is to use the Windows registry to change the default folder.

Note: The following steps are applicable to Windows 10.

Step 1: Press the Windows R key combination to open the "Run" dialog box.

Step 2: Enter regedit in the text box and press Enter . You need to click Yes in the UAC window.

Step 3: Enter the following address in the address bar and press Enter :

Computer\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced

Step 4: In the right panel, double-click LaunchTo .

Step 5: To change the default folder to "This Computer", you need to set the numerical data to 1. To change the default folder to "Quick Access", you need to change the numeric data to 2. Finally, click OK to apply settings.

Additional Tips

Incorrect operation of the Windows registry may cause the computer to fail or fail to start. In this case, you will not be able to access the data on your computer. So, how do you recover lost files when your computer fails to boot?

We recommend using professional data recovery software – MiniTool Power Data Recovery. It is a reliable and easy to use file recovery tool for recovering documents, emails, pictures, videos, audio and more from external hard drives, USB flash drives, CDs/DVDs, etc.

To recover data from a computer that cannot be started, you need to use a registered version, such as MiniTool Power Data Recovery Personal Edition. The full version provides a feature called Start Media Builder , allowing you to start your computer and recover files on it.

Additionally, if you lose some files but your computer boots up properly, you can use the free version of MiniTool Power Data Recovery. It supports scanning and displaying all found files on the drive and recovering no more than 1 GB of data for free. You can download the free version to try it out.

Method 2: Change the default folder to any folder you want

In addition to changing the default folder between Quick Access and This PC, you can also follow the steps below to change it to whatever folder you want.

Before you can do this, you need to remove the original File Explorer icon from the Windows taskbar.

Step 1: Right-click any blank area on the desktop and select New > Shortcut .

Step 2: In the Location box, enter this path: %SYSTEMROOT%\explorer.exe /e, the destination folder path and click Next (remember to replace the destination folder path with the actual full folder path you want to set as the default folder).

For example: %SYSTEMROOT%\explorer.exe /e, E:\OneDrive\Desktop\test .

Step 3: Assign a name to the shortcut and click Done .

Step 4: Right-click the shortcut and select Pin to taskbar .

You can now open File Explorer to a specific folder of your choice by clicking the pin icon in the taskbar.

Summarize

Now you should know how to change the default folder of File Explorer and how to recover lost or deleted files using MiniTool Power Data Recovery.

If you have any questions about File Explorer, please leave a comment in the comment section below.

The above is the detailed content of Spotlight on How to Change the Default Folder in File Explorer. For more information, please follow other related articles on the PHP Chinese website!