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Recent folders / frequent folders / recent files / quick access

Anonymous
2019-10-16T03:05:12+00:00

Ok, this is driving me mad.

Until recently there was a fantastic feature in Windows called Recent Places (or something like that). It's no longer available and this must cost me 5 minutes per hour (for which I will invoice Microsoft.)

Now there is the Quick Access menu, which performs a somewhat similar function, but very, very poorly.

Here's what was good about the Recent Places:

  • As soon as I used a folder, it was available in recent places
  • As soon as I used a FILE, it was available in recent places
  • Recent Places was always available - in searches, in context menus and in Save As
  • When I was working in three different applications (say, creating a graph in Excel, image-editing it in Illustrator then dropping it into PowerPoint) I was instantly able to access the place I had saved it in each application, because saving the Excel file triggered that folder to appear in Recent Places.
  • I could also open a file in a different application (save it in Gimp and then open it in Photoshop) by finding the file in the recent places folder.

Here's what doesn't work about the Quick Access menu

  • It does not automatically add the folder to the window until it has been used a certain number of times.
  • This is hopeless, because if I need to access the folder, say, 5 times between my three applications, then by the time the folder is in Quick Access I NO LONGER NEED IT! I need the same folder immediately after I have used it, not 25 minutes later when the system realises "hey - you seem to use that folder a lot".
  • It does not keep files - only folders.

What I want to happen

  • 10 out of 10 solution: I want the old system back.
  • 9 out of 10 solution: Quick Access tracks files and folders and immediately adds them when saved
  • 8 out of 10 as a workaround. Even if files can't get to Quick Access, it would be great to be able to tweak the algorithm that gets a folder into the Quick Access location. The sensitivity for getting a folder into Quick Access should be settable, even with just two settings:  "place folders in Quick Access immediately when used" and "Place folders in Quick access when used often."

Please please please return this functionality. It was a major, major timesaver, particularly when working at the end of a long folder path.

Windows for home | Windows 10 | Files, folders, and storage

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  1. Anonymous
    2019-10-17T09:20:54+00:00

    Hi,

    Thank you for writing to Microsoft Community Forums.

    I understand your query related to accessing recent items that you have accessed on your PC.

    Usually, when you access a file or folder on your PC it shows in the Quick Access menu as recent files.

    However, if you are looking for the most recent files that you have accessed from the PC then the simplest way is to access the recent items using the run command.

    1. Press Windows key + R. This will open Run. Alternatively, you can go to Start and search for Run.
    2. In Run dialog box, type shell:recent and hit Enter.

    This will open a window with all the recent items that you have accessed. You can also pin this folder in the Quick Access menu so that it will be easier for you to access once again.

    Kindly follow the steps to pin the recent items on the Quick Access menu.

    1. Right click on the Quick Access menu on the left hand pane.
    2. Select Pin current folder to Quick access.

    Once you pin the folder you should be able to access the recent items. Refer the screenshot for more information.

     

    Regards,

    Prakhar Khare

    Microsoft Community – Moderator

    30+ people found this answer helpful.
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