Why hasn't Microsoft addressed the File Explorer to stop going back to the "Main" folder?

Question

Why hasn't Microsoft addressed the File Explorer to stop going back to the "Main" folder?

Chuck V 470

I have my File Explorer set to open in PC, but the FE keeps going back to the "Main" folder. The files that you should see in the folder you were working on are shown in the "Main" menu, but as far as I can tell you can't put files into that folder. Can't we go back to the W10 folder setup? I constantly have to backtrack to get to the folder I was working on. Edit 1: Senior moment: I probably should have said "Home" folder..

Edit 2: It shows the folder in the "Home" folder more times, but not always, when you click "Open folder location".

Neil D 34,000 Reputation points Volunteer Moderator

2026-07-19T14:27:43.35+00:00

So when you open File Explorer it always starts with This PC. IS that what you mean.

You would like it to open the folder you were working on next time you open File Explorer??
Chuck V 470 Reputation points

2026-07-19T16:39:10.64+00:00

I do expect it to open under "This PC", which it does. When I right click "Open folder location" on a shortcut, it opens to that folder on the right side of the screen with "Home" highlighted on the upper left side of the screen. I would expect the folder I right click on to show on the left side of the screen with it's folders and/or files on the right side. It would just makes it easier to navigate. It is probably something that we are not going to get changed.
Neil D 34,000 Reputation points Volunteer Moderator

2026-07-19T18:56:37.56+00:00

I can see what you mean now.

When you right click a shortcut and select Open File Location the path to the file is shown in the address bar of File Explorer and opens in the right hand pane, but the folder location doesn't drill down in the left hand pane. On my laptop it just continues to highlight the C: drive in the left hand pane.

I can see this is expected behaviour for Windows 11. Perhaps the best idea will be to use the Feedback Hub (in Windows 11) to report this to the windows development team. They may or may not action on it I couldn't really say.

2 answers

Your answer

Neil D 34,000 Reputation points Volunteer Moderator

2026-07-19T14:27:43.35+00:00

So when you open File Explorer it always starts with This PC. IS that what you mean.

You would like it to open the folder you were working on next time you open File Explorer??
Chuck V 470 Reputation points

2026-07-19T16:39:10.64+00:00

I do expect it to open under "This PC", which it does. When I right click "Open folder location" on a shortcut, it opens to that folder on the right side of the screen with "Home" highlighted on the upper left side of the screen. I would expect the folder I right click on to show on the left side of the screen with it's folders and/or files on the right side. It would just makes it easier to navigate. It is probably something that we are not going to get changed.
Neil D 34,000 Reputation points Volunteer Moderator

2026-07-19T18:56:37.56+00:00

I can see what you mean now.

When you right click a shortcut and select Open File Location the path to the file is shown in the address bar of File Explorer and opens in the right hand pane, but the folder location doesn't drill down in the left hand pane. On my laptop it just continues to highlight the C: drive in the left hand pane.

I can see this is expected behaviour for Windows 11. Perhaps the best idea will be to use the Feedback Hub (in Windows 11) to report this to the windows development team. They may or may not action on it I couldn't really say.

Answer 1

Thomas4-N 21,145 Microsoft External Staff Moderator

Hello Chuck V,

Please right-click an empty area in File Explorer’s left navigation pane and enable Expand to current folder.

Then:

Use Open file location on the shortcut again.
Check whether the left pane expands to that folder.
If it does not, press Ctrl+Shift+E while the folder is open.

If neither works, please share your Windows version and OS build from Settings > System > About > Windows specifications, along with the shortcut’s target path.

Thomas4-N 21,145 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-07-26T14:24:16.44+00:00

Hello Chuck V,

Just check in to see how things are going. Let me know if you need anything.

Answer 2

Chuck V 470

Contents deleted. See comments for this post. My bad!

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