How to Add the Folders Group to This PC in Windows 11

The October 18, 2022 KB5019509 update for Windows 11 introduces tab support in Explorer. However, the update also removes the “Folders” group in This PC.

As you see in the above screenshot, only the “Devices and drives” section is available. In the earlier builds, the Folders group contained the links to your special folders. This change is seen after installing the October 18, 2022—KB5019509 (OS Build 22621.675) Out-of-band update.

Solution

To add the shell folders, namely, Desktop, Documents, Downloads, Music, Pictures, and Videos, to the top of This PC view, follow these steps:

• Download add-remove-folders-this-pc.zip
• Extract the contents of the archive to a folder.
  
• Double-click the file add-all-folders.reg and click Yes when asked for confirmation.
• Close and re-open Explorer. The shell folders should appear in the This PC view now.
  

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Additional Information

If you want to add only selected folders (e.g., desktop, documents, or music), run the corresponding REG file included in the archive. The archive contains the following files:

• add-all-folders.reg
• remove-all-folders.reg
• add-music.reg
• add-pictures.reg
• add-videos.reg
• add-desktop.reg
• add-documents.reg
• add-downloads.reg

Contents of the REG files

File: add-all-folders.reg

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

;----------------------------------------------------------------
;Restores special folders to "This PC" in Windows 11 22H2 and up
;----------------------------------------------------------------

;Desktop
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\MyComputer\NameSpace\{B4BFCC3A-DB2C-424C-B029-7FE99A87C641}]
"HideIfEnabled"=-

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Classes\CLSID\{B4BFCC3A-DB2C-424C-B029-7FE99A87C641}\ShellFolder]
"SortOrderIndex"=dword:00000000

;Documents
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\MyComputer\NameSpace\{d3162b92-9365-467a-956b-92703aca08af}]
"HideIfEnabled"=-

;Downloads
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\MyComputer\NameSpace\{088e3905-0323-4b02-9826-5d99428e115f}]
"HideIfEnabled"=-

;Music
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\MyComputer\NameSpace\{3dfdf296-dbec-4fb4-81d1-6a3438bcf4de}]
"HideIfEnabled"=-

;Pictures
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\MyComputer\NameSpace\{24ad3ad4-a569-4530-98e1-ab02f9417aa8}]
"HideIfEnabled"=-

;Videos
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\MyComputer\NameSpace\{f86fa3ab-70d2-4fc7-9c99-fcbf05467f3a}]
"HideIfEnabled"=-

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File: remove-all-folders.reg

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

;----------------------------------------------------------------
;Removes special folders from "This PC" in Windows 11 22H2 and up
;----------------------------------------------------------------

;Desktop
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\MyComputer\NameSpace\{B4BFCC3A-DB2C-424C-B029-7FE99A87C641}]
"HideIfEnabled"=dword:022ab9b9

[-HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Classes\CLSID\{B4BFCC3A-DB2C-424C-B029-7FE99A87C641}]

;Documents
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\MyComputer\NameSpace\{d3162b92-9365-467a-956b-92703aca08af}]
"HideIfEnabled"=dword:022ab9b9

;Downloads
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\MyComputer\NameSpace\{088e3905-0323-4b02-9826-5d99428e115f}]
"HideIfEnabled"=dword:022ab9b9

;Music
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\MyComputer\NameSpace\{3dfdf296-dbec-4fb4-81d1-6a3438bcf4de}]
"HideIfEnabled"=dword:022ab9b9

;Pictures
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\MyComputer\NameSpace\{24ad3ad4-a569-4530-98e1-ab02f9417aa8}]
"HideIfEnabled"=dword:022ab9b9

;Videos
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\MyComputer\NameSpace\{f86fa3ab-70d2-4fc7-9c99-fcbf05467f3a}]
"HideIfEnabled"=dword:022ab9b9

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Editor’s note

The above registry fix applies to all users on the computer. However, if you want to add the shell folders for the current user account only, you need to generate a custom shell namespace object for each shell folder. To automate the task, please use the script method in the article How to Add a Custom Folder under “This PC” in Explorer.

If you use the custom folder method in the linked article, you need to edit each REG file (the script creates on your desktop) and update the DefaultIcon for each shell folder if you want the folders to appear with the special folder icon.