Recently we told you how to disable "HomeGroup" feature in Windows 7. Today we are going to share a small trick to disable "Libraries" in Windows 7. If you are not aware of "Libraries", please visit this link. "Libraries" icon is always visible in Windows Explorer.
After following this tutorial, "Libraries" feature will be disabled in Windows 7 and its icon will also be removed from Explorer and Start menu.
You just need to run a small Registry script to disable it. Download following ZIP file, extract it and run the "Disable Libraries in Windows 7.REG" file:
After running the .REG file, log off or restart your system and you'll no longer see Libraries icon in Windows Explorer:
If you don't want to disable complete "Libraries" feature but only want to remove its icon from Explorer, then run "Only Remove Libraries Icon from Windows 7 Explorer.reg" file.
PS: There is also a restore script available in case you want to restore Libraries.
Posted by: Vishal Gupta | Categories: Troubleshooting, Windows 7
Marcel
I hate those sort of automatic folders in Windows... Will Microsoft learn... some day... that most people do not like 'atuomathic things' that never use? Thanks for this page!
Rafael Miranda Soares
Thank you!
Nate
THANK YOU!
....I miss XP.
Matt Montalto
I realize that this is a old thread, but I have recently deployed windows 7 desktops and my users are having issues with the libraries feature and I needed to find a way to disable it across the domain with group policy. Long story short is that all of which I tried from forum advice did not work, although it led me in the right direction. I just want to pass along the very simple solution to get the libraries feature to stop showing up in the explorer window.
Go to the GPO you want to use for this, and go to Computer Config---Preferences---Windows Settings---Registry
Choose New Registry Item and change Action to "delete"
You can leave the Hive set at HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
and for key path put:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Desktop\NameSpace\{031E4825-7B94-4dc3-B131-E946B44C8DD5}
================
Removing this key works immediately.... (if you should choose to test)... just navigate to the location manually, export it for backup purposes and the delete it... then close and re-open my computer and libraries will be gone.
And, in my case, (no guarantee on this part) the shortcut on the task bar that used to launch libraries, now opens up directly to the user's My Documents folder (which is really their H:\ drive)
Hope that this helps someone and prevents them from spending their entire morning figuring this out.
Matt Montalto
Dustin Dude
This trick comes in handy when it comes to SSD and HDD integration. With these libraries, it can slow down the SSD considerably, and if you are like me and
Thomas W. Eaton (Tom)
Awsome! I can't believe that I have been overlooking this option for so long. Thank you! Its exactly what I needed. I've just got two questions; first, can I do the same thing for Favorites? And second, do you happen to know how to hide the menu in Windows Explorer with a reg hack or in Group Policy?
Thanks again!
Tom
VG
^^ Please check following:
http://www.askvg.com/how-to-remove-favorites-from-windows-7-explorers-navigation-pane/
http://www.askvg.com/how-to-remove-libraries-from-windows-7-explorers-navigation-pane/
bjmoose
No more clutter in Explorer nav pane!! Hopefully won't have to "Refresh" view after file management. A blessing. Thanks. Can't wait to view more of your site.
Brandon
Whatever you do, do not run the "Disable Libraries in Windows 7.REG" on your system. It arbitrarily unregisters important COM objects and *will* cause you problems down the road, if not immediately. Worse, the "Restore" reg file included in the zip DOES NOT restore everything that the other one broke!
Venus
Worked like a charm. Thank you so much for sharing it. :)
MagicMavis
This is possibly the best things I've ever found for Windows 7.
Now if you can make 8 not make me want to throw my PC out of the window (they really ought to build an OS which doesn't presume you have a touchscreen) then I'll use that instead.
Seriously though, thanks for posting this. Great help.
MagicMavis
*best thing, not things
HelpfulBanana
you dont have to restart or logoff just open taskman (Ctrl + Shift +Esc) or (Crtl + Alt + Del)
AngryWindowsUser
You can't browse to library from a file open box, which means it's broken "out of the box". Typical MS c**p...Ripping it out is the the "fix"