By Hally | Last Updated
Quick Access is a useful part of File Explorer that gives you easy access to recent files and frequent folders. You can manually pin and unpin folders to change which folders are displayed in Quick Access. You can also use it to save valuable clicks and seconds. But what if the Quick Access menu is missing in your Windows 11, or doesn't allow you to pin any new items? This has been a major problem affecting many Windows 11 users. Fortunately, there are a few fixes you can try. In this article, I will share with you on how to fix Quick Access menu missing in Windows 11.
A bad Windows update is the most common scenario that may change the expected behavior of the Quick Access menu. Microsoft has broken the functionality of the Quick Access menu on Windows 11 before. But the good news is that Microsoft has been able to fix it quickly each time to mitigate the problem and restore the original behavior.
Step 1: Click on Start and select Settings. Or, you can press WIN+I at the same time to open the Settings.
Step 2: Move to the Windows Update section in the left panel, and then click Check for updates in the right panel.
If Quick Access does not show your recently opened files and frequently used folders, check the options in File Explorer to ensure that this feature is enabled.
Step 1: Click the search icon on the taskbar or press Windows Key + S to open the search menu. Type the File Explorer Options in the box to open it.
Step 2: Under the General tab, check the Show recently used files and Show frequently used folders checkboxes. Click Apply and OK to complete the changes. Open some files and check if they appear under the "Recent files" section of "Quick Access".
Another reason why Quick Access may not show your recent files is that you have disabled the "Show recently opened items in Start, Jump List, and File Explorer" option in the Settings application. Here are the steps to enable it.
Step 1: Open the Start menu and click the gear-shaped icon to launch the Settings application. Alternatively, you can use the Windows key + I shortcut for the same purpose.
Step 2: Find and click the Personalization tab in the left pane. Then, in the right pane, click Start.
Step 3: Toggle on the switch next to "Show recently opened items in Start, Jump Lists, and File Explorer". After this, all your recent files should appear in Quick Access.
Step 1: Press Windows Key + E to launch File Explorer. Click the three-dot menu icon at the top and select Options.
Step 2: In the Folder Options window, click the Restore Defaults button. Then, click OK to complete the change.
The Registry Editor contains key settings for Windows and its applications. Therefore, you should proceed with caution and follow the steps carefully. Also, make sure you backup all registry files or create a restore point before using this method.
Step 1: Press Windows key + R to open the Run dialog box. Type regedit and click OK or press Enter. If a User Account Control (UAC) prompt appears, click Yes.
Step 2: Paste the following path into the top address bar, then press Enter to navigate to the Ribbon key. Find the QatItems item from the right pane. Right-click it and select Delete from the context menu.
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Ribbon
Step 3: Click Yes in the pop-up window to confirm the deletion of this value.
On Windows 11, the navigation pane is customizable and you can hide every folder and library, or even disable the "expand to open" feature. However, these are all settings that may affect the Quick Access menu.
Step 1: Press Windows key + R to open the Run dialog box. Type control.exe folders in the dialog box and press Ctrl + Shift + Enter to open the folder options menu.
Step 2: Access the View tab and scroll down to the Navigation pane. Enable each item under the Navigation pane and click Apply and OK to save the changes.
It is possible that the Quick Access link has become corrupt. To fix it, we can delete all the content from quick access, and then re-pin all items.
Step 1: Press Windows key + R to open the Run dialog box. Type cmd in the text box and press Ctrl + Shift + Enter to open command prompt with administrator privileges.
Step 2: In the Command Prompt, type the following commands in the same order and press Enter after each command to remove the Recent, Auto Destinations, and Custom Destinations folders from the Quick Access menu.
del /F /Q %APPDATA%\Microsoft\Windows\Recent\* del /F /Q %APPDATA%\Microsoft\Windows\Recent\AutomaticDestinations\* del /F /Q %APPDATA%\Microsoft\Windows\Recent\CustomDestinations\
Step 3: Once each command has been successfully processed, restart your computer and check if the problem has been solved.
Closing Thoughts:
That's what this guide is all about how to fix quick access menu missing in Windows 11. You can try these seven fixes mentioned above to fix Windows 11 quick access menu missing if needed. Hope this will be your help!
