How to Disable Quick Access or Home in Windows 11 and 10

With Windows 10, Microsoft added a new feature to File Explorer, i.e. Quick Access. It has also made its way to Windows 11 as well. However, with Windows 11 22H2 version, it has been replaced by Home which is basically an enhancement to the existing Quick Access feature. It seems like a convenient feature but most of the users are used to opening the default “This PC” when they click File Explorer. So, if you are one of them, you can disable Quick Access or Home in File Explorer on Windows 11 or 10.

Another reason for disliking the Quick Access or Home feature is that sometimes it takes more time to load. And till then, you can’t use File Explorer. To solve this problem, you can change the settings in File Explorer to open ‘This PC‘ instead of Quick Access or Home. So, next time you click on the File Explorer icon on the Taskbar, it will open This PC by default.

SEE ALSO: How to Speed up your Windows 10 or 11 in 8 Simple Steps?

Disable the Quick Access or Home Feature in File Explorer in Windows 11 and 10

So, in this tutorial, we are going to show you how to change settings in Windows 10 and 11 to disable the Quick Access or Home feature of File Explorer. This process includes two parts. In the first part, we will change the default behavior of File Explorer to open ‘This PC’ instead of Quick Access or Home. And in the second part, we will remove the ‘Quick Access’ or ‘Home’ option from File Explorer. So, you won’t even see it there.

A) Set File Explorer to Open ‘This PC’ instead of Quick Access (Windows 10 and 11 22H1 or Earlier Builds)

Now, we will first set up File Explorer in Windows 11 and Windows 10 to open This PC instead of Quick Access by default. This is applicable for Windows 11 or 10 version 22H1 or earlier builds. Follow these simple steps:

Step 1: Open File Explorer and Go to Folder Options

First of all, click on the File Explorer icon on your Windows 11 or 10 PC. This will open the Quick Access window by default.

File Explorer Opens To Quick Access By Default In Windows 10 And 11
File Explorer opens to Quick Access by default

Now, in the left pane right-click on Quick Access and select the appropriate option according to your OS version.

Windows 11: Right-click on Quick Access > Show More Options > Options

Windows 10: Right-click on Quick Access > Options

Right Click On Quick Access And Select Options
Right-click on Quick Access and select Options

Step 2: Disable Quick Access in File Explorer

The Folder Options window will open. Now, on the General tab, select This PC from the “Open File Explorer to” dropdown. After that, click Apply and OK to save the settings.

Set Open Explorer To This Pc And Click Ok To Disable Quick Access In Windows 11 And 10
Set Open Explorer to This PC and click OK

Now, you have successfully disabled the Quick Access feature of Windows 11 or 10’s File Explorer.


Step 3: Close and Re-open File Explorer in Windows 11 or 10

Now, after you disable Quick Access in your Windows 11 or 10, close File Explorer. After that launch File Explorer again from Taskbar or Start. This time File Explorer should open to This PC instead of Quick Access.

File Explorer Opens To This PC
File Explorer opens This PC

SEE ALSO: List of all Common Keyboard and Mouse Shortcuts in Windows

B) Set File Explorer to Open This PC instead of Home in Windows 11 22H2

As mentioned earlier, Quick Access has been replaced by Home in Windows 11 22H2 version. Also, the process to change its behavior has also changed a bit. So, we have explained it here. Just follow these steps:

Step 1: Launch File Explorer and open Folder Options

First of all, launch File Explorer and click on 3-horizontal dots in the Menu bar. After that, select Options to open the Folder Options window.

Click On 3 Horizontal Dots From Menu Bar And Select Options
Click on 3-horizontal dots from Menu and select Options

Step 2: Change Folder Options to open This PC instead of Home

Now, in the Folder Options window, set the ‘Open File Explorer to:’ to This PC instead of Home from the drop-down. After that, click Apply and OK to save the changes.

Select This Pc From Drop Down And Click Apply Then Ok
Select This PC from the drop-down and click Apply

Step 3: Close and Re-open the File Explorer

After changing the settings, it’s time to see it in action. Simply close and re-open the File Explorer and it will open to This PC instead of Home.

File Explorer Opens To This Pc Instead Of Home In Windows 11 22h2
File Explorer opens to This PC instead of Home

C) Remove the Quick Access or Home Option from File Explorer in Windows 10 and 11 (including the 22H2 version)

After setting File Explorer to open This PC instead of Quick Access or Home, we will now remove the Quick Access or Home option completely from Explorer. We will use Registry Editor for this purpose. So, we suggest you take the backup of the Registry or create a restore point before proceeding further.

Step 1: Open Registry Editor and go to Explorer Key

So, launch Registry Editor from the Start. You can also go to RUN, type regedit and press Enter to start Registry Editor. After that go to the following path in Registry Editor.

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer
Go To Explorer Key In Registry Editor
Go to Explorer key in Registry Editor

Step 2: Create HubMode DWORD in Registry Editor

Now, right-click on the Explorer key in Registry Editor and select New > DWORD (32-bit) Value.

Create A New Dword In Explorer To Remove Quick Access Option From Explorer
Create a New DWORD in Explorer

Name this newly created DWORD as HubMode.

Name New Dword As Hub Mode
Name new DWORD as HubMode

After that, double-click on it to modify it and set its value to 1.

Set Hubmode Dword Value To 1 To Remove Quick Access Option From File Explorer
Set HubMode DWORD value to 1

Step 3: Close and Re-Open File Explorer

Now, you can close the Registry Editor. Also, close all instances of File Explorer on your PC. After that, open File Explorer again. This time you won’t see any Quick Access or Home option there.

Quick Access Option Removed From Explorer In Windows
The Quick Access option has been removed from File Explorer in Windows

NOTE: In case you wish to restore the Quick Access or Home option in File Explorer, simply go to the Explorer key in Registry Editor and delete HubMode DWORD. After that close and re-open File Explorer and you will see Quick Access or Home there again.


SEE ALSO: How to Restore Classic File Explorer Menu Ribbon in Windows 11?

Turn Off the Quick Access or Home Feature of File Explorer in Windows 11 and 10

The above tutorial explained how you can easily turn off and completely disable the Quick Access or Home feature in File Explorer on Windows 11 or 10. Now, every time you click on the File Explorer icon, it will open to This PC instead of Home or Quick Access. And you won’t see any Quick Access or Home option in File Explorer. So, no more waiting for Quick Access to load. Try this tutorial to enable the new File Explorer UI in Windows 11.

Hope you liked this tutorial. Should you face a problem, just post a comment down below. We will get back to you as soon as possible. You may also like to subscribe to our newsletter to get the latest tutorials directly into your inbox.

Editorial Staff

Hi there, we are the editorial staff at WINDOSPC (former HELLPC). We are a team of funny and technical people. Feel free to get in touch with us via Contact-Us page.

4 Comments

  1. I appreciate that it works without having to change TMP options like a few of the other solutions do! Thanks for the article, truly appreciated.

  2. This doesn’t disable Quick Access, it only switches to My PC to be the default place to start…
    I don’t want quick access to be there at all… And I don’t want the Recommended tab to exist at all in the Start menu. This is ridiculous.

    1. Thanks for your suggestion Luka. The article has been updated with option to completely remove Quick Access option from File Explorer. We will soon update on Recommended tab also.

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