[Windows 10 Tip] Remove Icons from Navigation Pane of This PC

If you are using Windows 10 OS in your computer, you might have noticed 2 new icons in Windows Explorer (also known as “This PC” or My Computer) Navigation Pane:

  • OneDrive
  • Quick Access

Apart from these 2 new icons, some older icons such as Homegroup and Network are still present in Navigation Pane of This PC.

Windows_10_This_PC_Navigation_Pane.png

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Also when you attach a removable device such as USB Flash drive, external hard disk, etc, a separate icon of the removable drive is shown in navigation pane along with the same icon present under This PC section. So the removable drive icon is shown twice in navigation pane as shown in following screenshot:

Removable_Drive_Icon_Windows_10_This_PC_Navigation_Pane.png

Many people may not like so many icons in Navigation Pane and they may want to get rid of this icon clutter from This PC in Windows 10.

Today in this tutorial, we’ll tell you simple ways to remove these unwanted extra icons from Windows 10 This PC’s Navigation Pane.

You’ll be able to remove all of these unwanted icons or a particular icon with the help of this tutorial. We’ll take help of our favorite Registry Editor to do these tasks.

Remove_Icons_Windows_10_This_PC_Navigation_Pane.png

We have divided the tutorial in 5 parts:

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  • PART 1: Remove OneDrive Icon from Navigation Pane of This PC
  • PART 2: Remove Quick Access Icon from Navigation Pane of This PC
  • PART 3: Remove Homegroup Icon from Navigation Pane of This PC
  • PART 4: Remove Network Icon from Navigation Pane of This PC
  • PART 5: Remove Removable Drive Icon from Navigation Pane of This PC

So without wasting time lets start the tutorial:

NOTE: Ready-made Registry script is given for download at the end of this tutorial. If you are not familiar with Registry editing, you can use the Registry script to remove the icons automatically.

PART 1: Remove OneDrive Icon from Navigation Pane of This PC

Removing OneDrive icon is the most easiest task. You’ll not need to take ownership of any Registry key and you’ll not need to restart or log off. The changes will be instant.

1. Press WIN+R keys together to open RUN dialog box. You can also open it from WIN+X menu. Now type regedit in RUN dialog box and press Enter. It’ll open Registry Editor.

2. Now go to following key:

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{018D5C66-4533-4307-9B53-224DE2ED1FE6}

3. In right-side pane, change value of System.IsPinnedToNameSpaceTree DWORD to 0

Remove_OneDrive_Icon_Windows_10_This_PC_Navigation_Pane.png

That’s it. It’ll immediately remove OneDrive icon from This PC Navigation Pane.

If you want to restore OneDrive icon, change the value of System.IsPinnedToNameSpaceTree DWORD to 1 again.

NOTE: If you are using 64-bit edition of Windows 10, you may notice that OneDrive icon is still present in “Browse” dialog box such as Save, Save as or Open in some 3rd party 32-bit programs. To remove OneDrive icon from there, you’ll need to perform the same steps in following key as well:

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Wow6432Node\CLSID\{018D5C66-4533-4307-9B53-224DE2ED1FE6}

Just go to above mentioned key and in right-side pane, change value of System.IsPinnedToNameSpaceTree DWORD to 0 to remove OneDrive icon.

NOTE: If you want to completely disable OneDrive functionality in Windows 10, check out following tutorial:

[Tip] Disable OneDrive in Windows 10

PART 2: Remove Quick Access Icon from Navigation Pane of This PC

Removing Quick Access icon is a little bit hard compared to removing OneDrive icon. Due to some unknown reasons, changing “System.IsPinnedToNameSpaceTree” DWORD value to 0 doesn’t remove Quick Access icon from Navigation Pane even after restarting the computer.

So we’ll need to change its attributes to remove its icon from Navigation Pane:

UPDATE: A new advanced and working method is available to remove Quick Access icon from Navigation pane in Windows 10 File Explorer:

[Tip] Remove Quick Access Icon from Windows 10 File Explorer

1. Open Registry Editor and go to following key:

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{679f85cb-0220-4080-b29b-5540cc05aab6}\ShellFolder

2. Now take ownership of ShellFolder key with the help of this guide.

3. In right-side pane, change value of Attributes DWORD to a0600000

Remove_Quick_Access_Icon_Windows_10_This_PC_Navigation_Pane.png

PS: If setting value of Attributes DWORD to a0600000 doesn’t work or causes any issue, you can try to change the value to 88000

4. Restart, log off or restart Explorer as given here to take effect and it’ll remove Quick Access icon from This PC Navigation Pane.

If you want to restore Quick Access icon, change the value of Attributes DWORD to a0100000 again.

NOTE: If you are using 64-bit edition of Windows 10, you may notice that Quick Access icon is still present in “Browse” dialog box such as Save, Save as or Open in some 3rd party 32-bit programs. To remove Quick Access icon from there, you’ll need to perform the same steps in following key as well:

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Wow6432Node\CLSID\{679f85cb-0220-4080-b29b-5540cc05aab6}\ShellFolder

Just go to above mentioned key, take ownership of the key and in right-side pane, change value of Attributes DWORD to a0600000 to remove Quick Access icon.

NOTE: Some readers have reported issues related to Explorer (such as broken drag-n-drop functionality) after applying this Registry tweak to remove “Quick Access” icon from This PC Navigation Pane. Check following:

[Windows 10 Explorer Fix] Windows cannot Find, Make Sure You Typed the Name Correctly, and Then Try Again

PART 3: Remove Homegroup Icon from Navigation Pane of This PC

Homegroup icon can be removed using any of following 3 methods:

  • By using “System.IsPinnedToNameSpaceTree” DWORD method
  • By using “Attributes” DWORD method
  • By disabling Homegroup services

[METHOD A] By Using “System.IsPinnedToNameSpaceTree” DWORD:

1. Open Registry Editor and go to following key:

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{B4FB3F98-C1EA-428d-A78A-D1F5659CBA93}

2. Now take ownership of {B4FB3F98-C1EA-428d-A78A-D1F5659CBA93} key with the help of this guide.

3. In right-side pane, create a new DWORD System.IsPinnedToNameSpaceTree and leave its value to 0

Remove_Homegroup_Icon_Windows_10_This_PC_Navigation_Pane.png

4. That’s it. It’ll immediately remove Homegroup icon from This PC Navigation Pane.

If you want to restore Homegroup icon, change the value of System.IsPinnedToNameSpaceTree DWORD to 1 again.

NOTE: If you are using 64-bit edition of Windows 10, you may notice that Homegroup icon is still present in “Browse” dialog box such as Save, Save as or Open in some 3rd party 32-bit programs. To remove Homegroup icon from there, you’ll need to perform the same steps in following key as well:

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Wow6432Node\CLSID\{B4FB3F98-C1EA-428d-A78A-D1F5659CBA93}

Just go to above mentioned key, take ownership of the key and in right-side pane, create a new DWORD System.IsPinnedToNameSpaceTree and leave its value to 0 to remove Homegroup icon.

[METHOD B] By Using “Attributes” DWORD:

This method has already been posted at this site long time back for Windows 7 operating system but the method still works in Windows 10 OS.

You can visit following link to learn more about this method:

How to Remove Homegroup Icon from Windows Explorer Navigation Pane?

[METHOD C] By Disabling Homegroup Services:

You can also remove Homegroup icon from Navigation Pane by disabling Homegroup services using Service Manager.

Check out following tutorial to learn more about this method:

How to Disable Homegroup Feature in Windows 7 and Later?

Although the tutorial was written for Windows 7 but it’ll also work fine for Windows 10 OS.

PART 4: Remove Network Icon from Navigation Pane of This PC

Similar to Homegroup icon, Network icon can also be removed using similar methods:

  • By using “System.IsPinnedToNameSpaceTree” DWORD method
  • By using “Attributes” DWORD method

[METHOD A] By Using “System.IsPinnedToNameSpaceTree” DWORD:

1. Open Registry Editor and go to following key:

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{F02C1A0D-BE21-4350-88B0-7367FC96EF3C}

2. Now take ownership of {F02C1A0D-BE21-4350-88B0-7367FC96EF3C} key with the help of this guide.

3. In right-side pane, create a new DWORD System.IsPinnedToNameSpaceTree and leave its value to 0

Remove_Network_Icon_Windows_10_This_PC_Navigation_Pane.png

4. That’s it. It’ll immediately remove Network icon from This PC Navigation Pane.

If you want to restore Network icon, change the value of System.IsPinnedToNameSpaceTree DWORD to 1 again.

NOTE: If you are using 64-bit edition of Windows 10, you may notice that Network icon is still present in “Browse” dialog box such as Save, Save as or Open in some 3rd party 32-bit programs. To remove Network icon from there, you’ll need to perform the same steps in following key as well:

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Wow6432Node\CLSID\{F02C1A0D-BE21-4350-88B0-7367FC96EF3C}

Just go to above mentioned key, take ownership of the key and in right-side pane, create a new DWORD System.IsPinnedToNameSpaceTree and leave its value to 0 to remove Network icon.

[METHOD B] By Using “Attributes” DWORD:

This method has also been posted long time back for Windows 7 operating system but the method still works fine in Windows 10 OS.

You can visit following tutorial to learn more about this method:

How to Remove Network Icon from Windows Explorer Navigation Pane?

PART 5: Remove Removable Drive Icon from Navigation Pane of This PC

Removing removable drive icon is also very easy task. Similar to OneDrive icon method, you’ll not need to take ownership of any Registry key and you’ll not need to restart or log off. The changes will be instant.

1. Open Registry Editor and go to following key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Desktop\NameSpace\DelegateFolders

2. Under “DelegateFolders” key, you’ll find {F5FB2C77-0E2F-4A16-A381-3E560C68BC83} key.

Remove_Removable_Drive_Icon_Windows_10_This_PC_Navigation_Pane.png

3. Now delete the {F5FB2C77-0E2F-4A16-A381-3E560C68BC83} key and it’ll immediately remove the double removable drive icon from This PC Navigation Pane.

If you want to restore removable drive icon, create a new key under DelegateFolders key and set its name to {F5FB2C77-0E2F-4A16-A381-3E560C68BC83} again.

NOTE: If you are using 64-bit edition of Windows 10, you may notice that the drive icon is still present in “Browse” dialog box such as Save, Save as or Open in some 3rd party 32-bit programs. To remove the duplicate drive icon from there, you’ll need to perform the same steps in following key as well:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Desktop\NameSpace\DelegateFolders

Under “DelegateFolders” key, delete {F5FB2C77-0E2F-4A16-A381-3E560C68BC83} key.

That’s all for now. After following all above mentioned steps, you’ll get a clutter free Navigation Pane in This PC of Windows 10.

No_Extra_Icons_Windows_10_This_PC_Navigation_Pane.png

NOTE: If you don’t want to modify Registry yourself, you can download following ready-made Registry script to do the task automatically:

After downloading the ZIP file, extract it and run the desired .REG file to remove the icon. But you’ll still need to manually take ownership of the Registry key first as mentioned in above tutorial. The Registry script can only change values in Registry Editor. It can’t take ownership of keys.

Extra Registry scripts to restore icons in Navigation Pane are also present in ZIP file.

PS: If you want to remove Libraries icon from Navigation Pane, no Registry editing is required as Windows 10 already allows you to show or hide Libraries item in Navigation Pane using context menu as shown in following tutorial:

[Did You Know] You can Remove “Libraries” from Windows Explorer Navigation Pane in Windows 8.1 and Later

Published in: Windows 10

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. ^^ I think “Show all folders” option is selected in navigation context menu in your Windows 10.

  2. Tries Parts 3 and 5 of this help page. Part 3 worked as expected, but for Part 5 I don’t have the key you quote in either section. I’m running 64-bit Windows 10 Creator edition (just updated to!) so wonder if this is yet another “fix” from Microsoft?

  3. This is wonderful, thank you so much!!

    Not sure if this is an appropriate place to ask this, but is there a way to reorder the items displayed in “This PC”? The only consistency I’m seeing is Folders – ascending alphabetically, then drives – ascending alphabetically. Any way to customize the ordering?

    Thanks again!

  4. Hi VG. Similar question as Chuck Faust. I’d like to know if there is way to customize the ordering of the “high level” items. For example, I’d like to drag ‘Quick Access’ to the bottom of the list, but not remove it, in case I decide to make use of it later.

    And thanks this article was great. I removed several things now. Just wish Microsoft would give s the options to do these things from the GUI, rather than having to rely on someone like yourself to figure out how to do it with Registry tweaks.

  5. Thanks for the great tutorial! I was getting c.zy; all discs except C: were showing, and people were pointing me in the wrong direction (like it was about policies or access rights). This was it; all discs except C: were treated as removable drives.

  6. @LearningToFly
    You can change the items order in navigation pane by changing value of “SortOrderIndex” DWORD present in Registry.

  7. Hello VG,

    After applying your tweaks for removing the Quick Access Icon & rebooting, I receive the following error when trying to launch Explorer from the Explorer on the Taskbar:

    Explorer.EXE

    Windows cannot find “”. Make sure you typed the name correctly, and then try again.

    I’ve replicated the same error on two separate Windows 10 machines with latest updates. Any guidance on how to rectify?

    Regards,

    Turnjac

  8. With removing Onedrive the instruction doesn’t work. Have changed in both: HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{018D5C66-4533-4307-9B53-224DE2ED1FE6} and
    HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Wow6432Node\CLSID\{018D5C66-4533-4307-9B53-224DE2ED1FE6} to “0” didn’t help, Onedrive icon still remained.

  9. Thank you so much for this great information!
    But, as others have noted, after doing Part 2 above in Windows 10 Home, 64-bit; “Drag & Drop” functionality on the “tree side” (left pane) of Windows Explorer stops working. Any idea how to remove “Quick Access” without loss of “Drag & Drop” functionality?

  10. Thank you VERY much! I only used your Step 5 to get rid of those pesky duplicate folder icons, but just like you said: it was immediate. Will try it for a day or so, then may get rid of some of the rest of those unnecessary (& in my opinion – worthless & confusing) “upgrades”.
    Thanks again,
    Tom Latshaw

  11. Hi VG, I am impressed with the way you deal with your knowledge to help others on here. Can I ask you if you could help me with an annoying problem, please?
    In the navigation pane on windows 10. I have a selection of eight ways to view my files. These are as follows:- Extra large icons – Large icons – Medium size icons – Small icons – List – Details – Tiles – Content. I would like to permanently delete the following….. Large icons – Medium icons – Small icons – Tiles & Content to be left with only three choices to work with…… which are Extra large icons, List, & Details. I have tried many times to save the view which is applicable to my work which is normally in List view, but every time I do a search, the results come back to the Tile view instead of the List view I was working with. I try to save it in the List view but when I do, the buttons are always greyed out. Can you help, please? Thank you for your time on this.

  12. Can anyone help me restore the Quick Access Pane? I reset the values but for some reason it isn’t working.

  13. I have tried both methods following all instructions and while they were successful at removing the network icon from the explorer pane, the network icon is still showing up in the browse/open/save dialog box. Is there any other solution for this? Thanks.

  14. An impressive share! I’ve just forwarded this onto a colleague who has been doing a little homework on this. And he actually ordered me dinner due to the fact that I stumbled upon it for him… lol. So allow me to reword this…. Thank YOU for the meal!! But yeah, thanx for spending the time to discuss this issue here on your web site.

  15. This key had the “System.IsPinnedToNameSpaceTree” item that setting to 0 removed Creative Cloud Files from my side bar:
    Computer\HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{0E270DAA-1BE6-48F2-AC49-A60F94A42F24}

    This one for Dropbox
    Computer\HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{E31EA727-12ED-4702-820C-4B6445F28E1A}

  16. Thank you very much for your tips. Very useful to customize Windows completely. I always want to get rid of those stupid icons that Windows have no way to delete by default.
    Thank you!

  17. Sorry but this seems like a long winded answer that is WAAAY too complicated.

    It took a few searches for me to find something that was close to what I wanted and then it just hit me: it’s the quick access within the navigation pane. If you want to remove the icon in your navigation pane, right-click on it and look for “unpin from Quick access.” click on it and you’re done! It was difficult at first to find it because I have so many contextual menu add-ons that it was buried within the list. Once you find it – REALLY easy.

  18. One more thing. Some items need to be “unpinned” and others “removed” from Quick access. You can tell the difference because the pinned items have a pin icon to the right if your pane is wide enough to see. If there is no icon then it’s not pinned.

  19. This is a very useful article. I managed to find iCloud Photos registry setting and solved my problem. Thanks a lot.

  20. I used regedit to remove folders for music and videos as I do not want then to display on my Navigation pane. I had done this successfully on my other laptop. On this one, which is older when I did this, I have still two folders just with no names or attributes, just the icons. I have looked for every incidence of the two keys for each of those folders. and removed them.
    Any ideas on how to remove those folders? What did I miss?

  21. I used regedit to delete Music and Video folders but ended up with unnamed folders with no properties but still the icons. What did I do wrong and can you help me figure out how to get rid of those folders?

  22. Hi VG,

    Thank you very much for that valuable and most importantly helpful information on how to remove the One Drive icon from the File Explorer navigation pane. Though I have 2 questions if you can help answer I would be very grateful to you. Q1. How did the One Drive icon got to be in the navigation pane when in fact I don’t recall ever placing it there? Q2. The fix that you had mentioned in the registry stated that the DWORD value was for a 32 bit computer and my PC is 64 bit. Can you please get back to me and let me know why?

    Thank you VG,

    Basem Khawaja

  23. ^^ The OneDrive icon comes pinned by default in all Windows 10 devices. Regarding DWORD value, you need to create 32-bit value in both 32-bit and 64-bit systems.

  24. Very few of these highly technical walkthrough fixes I’ve tried have actually worked but this one worked like a charm. Thanks my dude!

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