How to really get rid of Quick Access in Win 11 file explorer?

Thanks, but I don't know what world Microsoft lives in where people have the ability to hack their registries. Every IT department I know of has locked users out of that, yet it is constantly suggested as a solution on this site. How about just fixing the programs so we don't have to hack them? Just a thought.

Hello LSXXX, welcome to the Microsoft Community.

Based on your feedback, you want to disable the Quick Access options in File Explorer.

You can try the following methods:

1. Open File Explorer and select "Options" in the Quick Access section of the sidebar.
2. Under the General tab of Folder Options, change "Open File Explorer to" to "This PC."
3. Uncheck "Show recently used files in Quick Access" and "Show frequently used folders in Quick Access," then click "Clear."
4. Click OK.
5. Reopen File Explorer, and you should see that "This PC" is now the default instead of "Quick Access."

Method 2:

1. Navigate to the following registry location:

Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer

2. Create a new DWORD (32-bit) value on the right side and rename it to "HubMode."
3. Double-click to modify the value: 1 to hide, 0 to show.
4. After making the changes, restart "Windows Explorer" in Task Manager to hide Quick Access.

To disable or enable "Quick Access":

1. Navigate to the following registry location:

Computer\HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID{679f85cb-0220-4080-b29b-5540cc05aab6}\ShellFolder

2. Before modifying the right-side key value, you need to acquire permissions.
3. You may notice that the current administrator group only has "Read" permission. Check "Full Control" and apply. You may receive a "Cannot save updates to ShellFolder permissions. Access denied" message.
4. You'll need to further acquire modification permissions. Select "Advanced" below.
5. The owner is SYSTEM. Choose "Change."
6. Enter your current admin name, click "Check Names," then confirm.
7. Once you've become the owner, apply and confirm. Go back to step 3, check "Full Control" for the administrator group, and apply.
8. Go back to the registry and right-click to modify "Attributes."
9. Change the key value from a0100000 (default for enabling Quick Access) to a0600000 (to disable Quick Access).
10. After modifying, similar to hiding, restart "Windows Explorer" in Task Manager to complete the process.

Disclaimer: Generally, modifying registry subkeys or work group is intended for advanced users, administrators, and IT Professionals. It can help fix some problems, however, serious problems might occur if you modify the registry incorrectly. Therefore, make sure that you follow these steps carefully. For further protection, back up the registry before you modify it. Then, you can restore the registry if a problem occurs. For more information about how to back up and restore the registry, click How to back up and restore the registry in Windows - Microsoft Support to view the article. 

I hope this information is helpful to you.

Kirito | Microsoft Community Support Specialist

In Windows 10, I could click the small carrot and minimize Quick Access in the sidebar.

Windows 11 has no carrot or way to minimize Quick Access in the sidebar.

Method 1 and Method 2 have no effect, no carrot to minimize, and Quick Access still takes up a whole page in the sidebar.

Result:

New windows do open to "This PC"

However, "Quick Access" still takes up a whole page of the sidebar.

Method 3 did nothing (it did take longer before Quick Access appeared, but it still managed to start).

Yes, it's key {679f85cb-0220-4080-b29b-5540cc05aab6} and yes it is showing Attributes = a0600000 even after closing and opening.

I still want Quick Access, I merely want to minimize it in the Sidebar.

I agree with you 100%. I think MS is technically excellent but their understanding of user friendliness is in par with a monkey. For example in the older ie they display in a yellow bar that you need to go to the settings and fiddle with this and that to get rid of the warning and that is several layers of setting highly technical, which you need a PhD to understand. The Visual Studio is shocking, it has 100s of bugs. Only when users scream at them they try to address is, and most is still there for over 20 years. I wrote to the about the Media player, where when it is paused it displays a massive control bar covering half the screen that stops the user analysing the video which is the main purpose of the pausing. I read many complains about that too, but they never do anything about it.
MS think their software is just a fancy toy for the user, they do not realise billions use it and their work depends on it. It was only because of Apple that they paid attention to the UX otherwise the user would be still fixing thing using DOS and updating BIOS. They do not understand that it take couple of hours to investigating them. I do not live my life to fix their ****. It is like if I want to break when driving I have to get out and change the tyre fir several hours.

The other horrifying thing is they decide when my data is stored and they do not realise that exposing people data without their consent in the wrong place can have serious repercussion. They put thumbnails, link and history of all my activities everywhere. The OneDrive is horrific, I renamed the folder and all my data including 20 year of emails disappeared. They force me to have OneDrive which I hate as it show the snapshot of my documents from work on my personal PC. If you are doing legal work or running a business that can cause a lot of damage.

I do not think they have ever tested anything on an average user. Only their PhD developers use and and they think is the best thing in the universe and they are so clever.

The point is this is the age of AI and they are a $2.5T company. The user must not have to do anything to fix thing, they should all be under the bunnet.

I come to these sites with a question such as how to undo the damage that windows 11 has done to my computer, and my screens rarely match what is described in the instructions.

And why can't I use the back button to leave these "help" pages? I now locked on this page.