Windows 11 File Explorer

Question

My wife has a new computer running Windows 11 Pro and would like File Explorer to open with the files under My Documents showing in the Navigation Panel, as she had in her old computer with windows 10, see image attached.

At the moment in Windows 11 she has to navigate to it via C > Users > (name) > My Documents, which is more tedious than when she used Windows 10.

Please can you help? Thanks

Answer 1

In Windows 11, the quickest way to get to Documents from File Explorer is to pin it to Quick access and/or use File Explorer Home. The known folders (including Documents) are designed to appear there instead of under This PC.

To pin Documents so it always shows in the left navigation pane:

1. Open File Explorer (for example, press Windows logo key + E).
2. In the left navigation pane, select Home (this is the default File Explorer landing page in Windows 11).
3. At the top of the file list, select the Up arrow next to the address bar. This shows the six known folders: Desktop, Documents, Downloads, Pictures, Music, and Videos.
4. Right‑click Documents and select Pin to Quick access.

Documents will now appear under Quick access in the navigation pane, so it can be opened with a single click instead of navigating through C > Users > (name).

If the navigation pane itself is hidden:

1. Open File Explorer.
2. Select View on the command bar.
3. Select Show, then select Navigation pane.

If preferred, File Explorer can also be set to open to This PC instead of Home, but Microsoft recommends using Home because it surfaces the known folders and recent files more quickly.

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References:

• File Explorer in Windows
• Meet Windows 11: The Basics
• Reference for Windows 11 and Windows 10 settings

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Answer 2

1

In File Explorer, right click the My Documents folder and select 'Pin to Quick Access'

That folder should then appear in the left navigation pane.

.

Right click an empty spot in the left Navigation Pane and enable this setting - Expand to Current Folder

Then check if that resolves the problem.

2

If not, the best option would be to right click the My Documents folder and select 'Send To - Desktop (Create Shortcut)'.

Then your wife can use that new Desktop shortcut to directly access that folder and its sub-folders.