How do I disable the new "Favorites" and "Shared" panel on Windows Explorer?

None of those worked for me. I found this post because I noticed the same thing, and it seems new. I think the OP is talking about this Favorites and Shared panel under Home in File Explorer. I have no use for it either and have not yet found a way to disable it.

This is what I want to remove as well!

Hey there Joe. I'm Clive an Independent Advisor. Thank you for reaching out to the Microsoft Community.

I understand that you have issues with the "Favorites" and "Shared" panels. Microsoft has indeed made changes to how File Explorer presents these sections in recent Windows versions.

Here is what you are going to do.

To remove individual items from Quick Access/Favorites:

Open File Explorer (Windows Key + E).

In the Quick Access or Favorites section, right-click on the folder or file you want to remove.

Select "Unpin from Quick access" or "Remove from Favorites."

To stop Windows from automatically showing recently used files and frequently used folders:

Open File Explorer (Windows Key + E).

Click on the three dots (...) in the toolbar at the top right of the File Explorer window.

Select Options (this will open the "Folder Options" window).

In the General tab, under the Privacy section:

Uncheck "Show recently used files in Quick access."

Uncheck "Show frequently used folders in Quick access."

Click the Clear button next to "Clear File Explorer history" to clear any existing entries.

Click Apply, then OK.

To change the default opening location of File Explorer (if you don't want it to open to Home/Quick Access):

Open File Explorer (Windows Key + E).

Click on the three dots (...) in the toolbar.

Select Options.

In the General tab, next to "Open File Explorer to:", change the dropdown to "This PC".

Click Apply, then OK.

Disabling Quick Access from the Navigation Pane (More Advanced - Windows Pro/Enterprise):

If you have Windows Pro or Enterprise, you can use the Group Policy Editor to hide Quick Access entirely from the navigation pane.

Press Windows Key + R, type gpedit.msc, and press Enter.

Navigate to: User Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > File Explorer.

Locate and double-click "Do not show Quick access in the navigation pane."

Select Enabled, then click OK.

Restart your computer for the changes to take effect.

If these steps don't help, please let us know, and we can explore further options.

Sincerely,

Clive