[Tips] Tweak and Customize Windows 8.1 Explorer “This PC”

If you are using the new Windows 8.1, you might have noticed that Microsoft has renamed “Computer” (previously known as My Computer) to “This PC“. For readers convenience, most of the times we use “Windows Explorer” term to mention My Computer, Computer or This PC items in all Windows versions.

Windows 8.1 Explorer is quite similar to Windows 8 Explorer. It also comes Ribbon UI and similar interface but there are a few things which make them different. For example, Windows 8.1 Explorer comes with a few extra items such as Desktop, Documents, Downloads, Music, Pictures and Videos. All these 6 items are shown under “Folders” group in “This PC” window.

Windows_8_1_This_PC_Explorer.png

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Today in this tutorial, we are going to share a few tips and Registry tweaks which will help you in tweaking and customizing Windows 8.1 Explorer according to your requirements. With the help of this tutorial, you’ll be able to:

  • Rename “This PC” to “Computer”, “My Computer” or any other desired name
  • Remove or Hide Favorites, Libraries, Homegroup and other items from Navigation Pane in Windows 8.1 Explorer
  • Remove Desktop, Documents, Downloads, Music, Pictures and Videos folders from Windows 8.1 Explorer window
  • Separate “Hard Disk Drives” and “Devices with Removable Storage” sections
  • Add new useful items in Computer or “This PC” window and Explorer context menu

So without wasting time lets start the tutorial:

Rename “This PC” to “Computer”, “My Computer” or Any Other Desired Name

Microsoft has changed name of “My Computer” to “This PC” in Windows 8.1. Although its just a change in name but many people don’t like this new name and they want to rename it back to Computer or My Computer.

You can actually rename “This PC” to any desired name quickly and very easily. Just follow these simple steps:

1. Open “This PC” window and click on “Up” button present in toolbar. Alternatively you can press “Alt+Up arrow” keys together.

2. It’ll open Desktop folder. Now right-click on “This PC” icon and select Rename option. Alternatively you can click on “This PC” icon and press F2 key to rename it.

Rename_Windows_8_1_This_PC.png

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3. Now type any desired name and press Enter.

That’s it. You have renamed “This PC” successfully.

PS: You can also directly rename “This PC” from navigation pane or Desktop.

Remove Favorites, Libraries, etc from Navigation Pane in Windows 8.1 Explorer

When Windows 7 was released, Microsoft added some new items to Windows Explorer navigation pane such as Favorites, Libraries, Homegroup, Network and Computer. We shared a few Registry tweaks to remove these unwanted items from Windows 7 Explorer which can be found here.

With the release of Windows 8, Microsoft added a new option to remove Favorites from Windows Explorer navigation pane. And now in the latest Windows 8.1 OS, Microsoft has also added option to remove Libraries from Windows 8.1 Explorer navigation pane.

Show_Hide_Libraries_Windows_8_1_Explorer.png

So now in Windows 8.1, you can remove or hide Favorites and Libraries from navigation pane of This PC window without using any Registry tweak:

If you want to remove remaining items such as Homegroup and Network from navigation pane, you’ll have to use the same Registry tweaks which were shared for Windows 7:

The above tutorials should also work for Windows 8.1.

Remove Desktop, Documents, Downloads, etc folders from Windows 8.1 Explorer

When you open Computer or “This PC” window in Windows 8.1, you’ll immediately notice 6 new items which are:

  • Desktop
  • Documents
  • Downloads
  • Music
  • Pictures
  • Videos

These items are shown at the top in “This PC” window. Some people might have problems with the addition of these new items as it takes a big space of “This PC” window.

If you want to hide these 6 folders, you can click on the small arrow given near the group name “Folders (6)” and it’ll hide all 6 folders. You can also double-click on the group name to do the same thing.

You can also right-click and set “Group by” option to “Descending” to move this “Folders” section below “Devices and drives” section.

Hide_6_New_Folders_Windows_8_1_This_PC.png

But if you want to remove these new folders completely from This PC window, you can take help of following Registry tweak:

How to Remove Unwanted Items from My Computer Window?

The above mentioned tutorial works for all Windows versions including Windows XP, Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8 and Windows 8.1.

You just need to open Registry Editor and go to following Registry key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\Current Version\explorer\MyComputer\NameSpace

Remove_Windows_8_1_This_PC_Folders_Registry_Editor.png

Under “NameSpace” key, remove following sub-keys:

{1CF1260C-4DD0-4ebb-811F-33C572699FDE} (to remove Music folder)
{374DE290-123F-4565-9164-39C4925E467B} (to remove Downloads folder)
{3ADD1653-EB32-4cb0-BBD7-DFA0ABB5ACCA} (to remove Pictures folder)
{A0953C92-50DC-43bf-BE83-3742FED03C9C} (to remove Videos folder)
{A8CDFF1C-4878-43be-B5FD-F8091C1C60D0} (to remove Documents folder)
{B4BFCC3A-DB2C-424C-B029-7FE99A87C641} (to remove Desktop folder)

Once you remove all 6 keys, it’ll remove the whole “Folders” section from Windows 8.1 Explorer or “This PC” window.

Remove_6_New_Folders_Windows_8_1_This_PC.png

NOTE: This trick will not work in Windows 10. If you are using Windows 10, check out following guide instead:

[Tip] Remove 6 Extra Folders from Windows 10 Explorer “This PC”

UPDATE: Some 3rd party 32-bit programs may still show these unnecessary 6 folders in “Browse” windows such as Save, Save as and Open file windows as shown in following screenshot:

Windows_8_1_Browse_Window_Folders.png

To remove these 6 folders from browse window as well, follow the same steps given above for following Registry key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\MyComputer\NameSpace

Go to the above mentioned key and delete following keys present under it:

{1CF1260C-4DD0-4ebb-811F-33C572699FDE} (to remove Music folder)
{374DE290-123F-4565-9164-39C4925E467B} (to remove Downloads folder)
{3ADD1653-EB32-4cb0-BBD7-DFA0ABB5ACCA} (to remove Pictures folder)
{A0953C92-50DC-43bf-BE83-3742FED03C9C} (to remove Videos folder)
{A8CDFF1C-4878-43be-B5FD-F8091C1C60D0} (to remove Documents folder)
{B4BFCC3A-DB2C-424C-B029-7FE99A87C641} (to remove Desktop folder)

Remove_Windows_8_1_Browse_Folders_Registry_Editor.png

That’s it. Now you’ll not see these 6 folders in browse windows as well. Thanks to our reader “Ian” for this extra tip…

PS: If you don’t want to edit Windows Registry yourself, you can use following ready-made Registry script to do the task automatically. Just download following ZIP file, extract it and you’ll get a .REG file to remove these 6 items from Windows 8.1 Explorer. Double-click on the file and accept confirmation. The ZIP file also contains a restore default settings file to add the 6 items back in Windows 8.1 Explorer:

Download Registry Script to Remove 6 New Folders from This PC in Windows 8.1

Separate “Hard Disk Drives” and “Devices with Removable Storage” Sections

Microsoft has combined both “Hard Disk Drives” and “Devices with Removable Storage” sections in a single section “Devices and Drives” in Windows 8.1 Explorer.

Windows_8_1_Explorer_Single_Section.png

Following tutorial will help you in separating the new “Devices and Drives” section in multiple sections:

How to Separate “Devices and Drives” Section in Windows 8.1 Explorer “This PC”?

Add new useful items in Computer or “This PC” window and Explorer context menu

Last but not least you can use our following exclusive Registry tweaks to add new items in Windows Explorer context menu or to add new items in Computer or “This PC” window.

[AIO] Ultimate Tutorial to Customize My Computer and Windows Explorer Context Menu

Also Check:

How to Get Windows XP Style Toolbar in Windows 8.1 Explorer without Using Any Software?

The above mentioned tutorials will work absolutely fine in Windows 8.1.

Published in: Windows 8

About the author: Vishal Gupta (also known as VG) has been awarded with Microsoft MVP (Most Valuable Professional) award. He holds Masters degree in Computer Applications (MCA). He has written several tech articles for popular newspapers and magazines and has also appeared in tech shows on various TV channels.

Comments

NOTE: Older comments have been removed to reduce database overhead.

  1. Thanks for the “Remove those six folders”!
    I SHOULD have come to the idea by myself since this trick is related to some Windows 98 tweaks. But google found your website faster ; )
    So I give you back a tweak you don’t have listed on your site…

    You could add the “enable full row select” and “disable full row select” registry tweaks to your list.
    With “full row select” disabled you can drag and drop a file BETWEEN items on right pane instead of having to drop them either in an empty area right of the items or on a non-folder-non-executable.

    Try it, that is a part that I missed when moving from Vista to Win7 and Win8(.1). It makes life a lot easier and allows smaller explorer windows since you don’t have to save space for an extra empty area.

    DISABLEFULLROWSELECT.reg
    Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
    [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced]
    “FullRowSelect”=dword:00000000
    [-HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\Local Settings\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Shell\Bags]

    ENABLEFULLROWSELECT.reg
    Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
    [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced]
    “FullRowSelect”=-
    [-HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\Local Settings\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Shell\Bags]

  2. Best and most complete solution document on this subject I have found. Don’t know why M$ is making us use the registry to hide folders we don’t want to see instead of some simpler method. Recommend this document as a great solution to anyone looking to remove the default folders under My PC.

  3. VG can you help me in removing OneDrive link from This PC in windows 8.1?
    This one drive link is bugging me a lot and I want to arrange the libraries right above This PC explorer.
    Please Help me.
    Thanks !

  4. ^^ You just need to delete {8E74D236-7F35-4720-B138-1FED0B85EA75} key using the same steps as given in “Remove Desktop, Documents, Downloads, etc folders from Windows 8.1 Explorer” section of above tutorial.

  5. Hello Mr. VG,
    please give me a registry tweak to hide/delete “This PC” in Windows Explorer (I don’t mean the subfolders only)

    Thanks in advance

    Achim

  6. Great!
    The messy explorer tree has been one of my main complaints about Windows 8. I could never find a fix in any of the tweaking apps i was trying.
    This tweak is going in my permanent toolbox!
    Thanks a lot

  7. in my “this PC”, some unwanted item in “Network location”. They appeared with the “windows media player” icon. please show me the way to remove them.

  8. Every time I boot my computer, I am running “Windows 8.1 Pro w/ Media Center” it automatically opens the “This PC” window. Why does it do that and how do I stop it from doing that, anyone know how by chance?

  9. ^^ There is an option “Restore previous folder windows at logon” present in Folder Options. Make sure its unchecked.

  10. In Windows 8.1, when I use Windows Explorer and I go to folder elsewhere than where it starts up in, after a couple of seconds, explorer automatically shifts back to the folder it started up with! It’s so irritating to have to once again go back to the folder I wanted to review.
    Why does this happen, and how can I get explorer to knock it off?!
    Please send a copy of your reply to my e-mail address.
    Thank you kindly.

  11. Thank you so much. Having those six folders at the top of Explorer was so annoying. You rock!

  12. my icon at the bottom of my desktop tells me how many hours I have left before I need to charge my pc has disappeared can you bring it

  13. If you select ‘network’ in the navigation pane, on the right hand side you see the groups computers, media and devices, network infrastructure and printers. On one windows 8.1 pc (after 8 upgrade) , all the groups have disappeared, except ‘computers’. In one picture in one of your articles, you have a display like this. Do you know how to make them appear/ disappear ?

  14. Is there a registry tweak to permanently hide the action pane in the MMC in windows 8? I know about Customize, but that’s only temporary.

    Thanx

  15. I’ve removed the line in the registry but the folders aren’t more present.
    It’s work fine but after each Windows Update the folders are again present in explore and i must repeat the operation in the registry.
    Is there someone who has the same problem and above all is there someone who has the solution to fix this definitely?

  16. ^^ Many Windows updates re-add the keys in Registry, so we’ll have to re-run the scripts to remove the keys.

  17. Right click in the navigation pane of win 8.1 shows items you can remove. It works for Favorites but I can check and uncheck till kingdom come but libraries won’t remove.
    Anyone new ideas how remove libraries from navigation pane. I suppose there must be a solution in the registry.

  18. I love this website! I’ve been here since like 2011 when I was customising my Windows XP to look like Windows 7.. Oh my God! Who will forget Vishal Gupta?

  19. i did it but it did not work “folders” still is in my computer
    This method does not work for me
    what can i do?

  20. Hi VG, Hope you are doing well…:)
    Seams Microsoft changed the registry keys we need to delete in order to remove Desktop, Documents, Downloads, etc folders from Windows 10 Explorer or This PC. It appears that the keys are not the same of the keys in Windows 8.1.
    So, could you please update the article? Or do you think it’s best to wait until Microsoft release the Windows 10 RTM?
    Thanks!

  21. I used the registry edit to remove the folders listed below from Win explorer and it worked perfectly BUT these folder keep getting recreated and added back to the registry somehow. I have to keep deleting the 6 lines from the registry over and over. How can I keep these annoying folders from being recreated?
    Desktop
    Documents
    Downloads
    Music
    Pictures
    Videos

  22. Hi, I wanted to change icons of the “Folders” i.e. Documents, Downloads etc. I have changed them from the Libraries but I wanted to change them in This PC. Is there anyway?
    Thanks in advance.
    @ VG

  23. I’d simply like to know how to stop the windows explorer window from opening automatically in desktop – I’m quite happy to keep it on the taskbar (as per Win7).

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