Solved: Windows Explorer Quick Access Missing

Problem: Windows Explorer Quick Access missing

File Explorer's Quick Access proves to be a handy feature for quickly accessing frequently accessed folders and recently accessed files. However, in some cases, quick access or pinned folders inexplicably disappear from File Explorer.

Sometimes items disappear from Quick Access, while in other cases files can be inadvertently deleted from your computer. Thankfully, correcting Windows File Explorer Quick Access missing issue is not a complicated task. Read on to get insights into how to easily resolve this issue.

How to fix Windows Explorer Quick Access missing

Here are 4 methods that can help you fix Windows 10 File Explorer Quick Access disappeared issue. You don't have to try them all, just try them one after another until the quick access folder appears in File Explorer.

Fix 1. Reset Quick Access

If your Quick Access settings were accidentally changed, causing Quick Access to disappear in File Explorer, you can resolve the issue by resetting the folder. Here are the steps:

Step 1. Open File Explorer and click Quick Access.

Step 2. Navigate to the View tab and select Options.

Step 3. In the View tab of the Folder Options window, find the Reset Folder option.

Step 4. Click OK to confirm the folder reset.

Step 5. A confirmation prompt will appear; click Yes to continue with the reset.

Fix 2. Repin Folders to Quick Access

When Windows 10 File Explorer Quick Access missing, you can try to display recent folders by following these steps:

Step 1. Open File Explorer.

Step 2. Enter shell:::{22877a6d-37a1-461a-91b0-dbda5aaebc99} in the search box and press Enter to access the recent folder.

Step 3. In Recent Folders, select the folders you want and select Pin to Quick Access to attach them to the Quick Access section.

Fix 3. Check folder options

If the Quick Access feature in Windows File Explorer seems to have disappeared, you can verify that it is enabled by following these steps:

Step 1. Open File Explorer.

Step 2. Navigate to the View tab.

Step 3. Click Options and select Change folder and search options.

Step 4. In the Folder Options window, make sure "Show recently used files in Quick Access" and "Show frequently used folders in Quick Access" are both selected.

Step 5. Click Apply and then OK to confirm the changes.

Way 4. Restore Quick Access folders and files via data recovery software

If the above method fails to recover Quick Access folders and files in Windows 10, these folders may have been deleted. In this case, using the Windows 11/10 data recovery tool becomes imperative.

Deleted files remain on the computer, albeit marked as free space, waiting for potential overwriting by new data. Although these files may be invisible to users, data recovery tools can discover and retrieve them.

For this purpose, a highly recommended and user-friendly option is AOMEI Partition Assistant Professional. This cost-effective software is developed by AOMEI, a leading brand in the data recovery industry, and is specially tailored for Windows 11/10/8.1/8/7. Its intuitive interface requires no professional skills or knowledge, just start a scan and the software will automatically screen your computer to find all deleted folders and files.

Step 1. Install and launch this AOMEI Partition Assistant Professional. In the main interface, click "Recover" > "Recover data" at the top toolbar.

Step 2. Choose the source drive (where the disappeared folders were saved initially) and click "Start Scan".

Step 3. Once the scan is completed, all deleted files, recycle bin, and other missing files will be displayed. Input the filenames, extensions, size, type, date modified, path, etc to search for the lost files. The more information you provide, the faster and more accurate the scanning process will be.

Step 4. Go to "Deleted files" or "Recycle Bin", locate the original location, choose the files you want to restore, and click "Recover x files".

Step 5. Select a folder path on your PC to save the recovered data so that you can know where to see the recovered file easily. Then, the recovery process will start.

Conclusion

If Windows Explorer Quick Access missing happens to you, you can try the methods provided above. If they prove ineffective, another method is to recover Quick Access Folders via AOMEI Partition Assistant Professional in Windows 11/10/8/7.

For enhanced data security, consider using AOMEI software to clone hard drive to another as a backup. This precaution ensures quick recovery of important files in the event of quick access loss or other unforeseen data issues.