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SOLVED: Windows 10/11 Quick Access error
5 min. read
Updated onOctober 4, 2023
updated onOctober 4, 2023
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Quick Access is a new feature that replaced what was previously known as Favorites, and in Windows 10, this feature can be found in theFile Explorernavigation pane.
The good thing about this feature is you can navigate faster to locations you frequent the most, as well as those you recently visited. In fact, by default, File Explorer launches into Quick Access, though you can change this to suit your preferences.
This feature’s convenient way of accessing folders helps a lot especially when some folders or files cannot be easily located or you cannot remember how you saved the file as.
But there are times whenQuick Access may not work, either it gets stuck or you cannot remove or unpin it, and other times it loses track of target folder(s), while still pointing to the old location.
If you encounter a Windows 10 Quick Access error, try the solutions below to resolve it.
FIX: Windows 10 Quick Access error
1. Preliminary troubleshooting
The first thing to do isrestart your computer, but if that still doesn’t help, try running the Windows built-in troubleshooter on your computer, which can automatically fix some common problems like the Windows 10 Quick Access error, and others like networking, hardware and devices, and program compatibility.
Here’s how to run the troubleshooter:
You can also perform an SFC scan by using Command Prompt as Administrator, then check whether there are any corrupt files that may be causing the problem.
dism /online /cleanup-image /restorehealth
sfc /scannow
If this doesn’t help, try the next solution.
2. Disable Quick Access and then reset the data
In order to disable Quick Access, you can disable showing of recent and frequently used files and/or folders. If you want to remove the frequent or recent files/folders, open File Explorer, click View tab, click Options and then click Change folder and search options to open the Folder Options.
Next, uncheck the Show recently used files in Quick Access box, and the Show frequently used folders in Quick Access boxes, under Privacy, then click Apply and exit. This removes the two sections from Quick Access in File Explorer.
The Windows 10 Quick Access error may come up due to corruption among data which your system stores for frequent folders record. So you need to reset the data to resolve the issue, after disable Quick Access by doing the following:
del /F /Q %APPDATA%\Microsoft\Windows\Recent\AutomaticDestinations*
If this doesn’t help, try the next solution.
3. Perform a system reset for your PC
Performing a reset allows you to choose which files you want to keep, or remove, and then reinstalls Windows.
Here’s how to get started:
Note:all your personal files will be deleted and settings reset. Any apps you installed will be removed, and only pre-installed apps that came with your PC will be reinstalled.
If this doesn’t help, try the next solution.
4. Customize the folder options
Sometimes, folder locations on remote file system files may find their way into the Quick Access cache, thus the remote systems may become inaccessible so File Explorer waits for them to time out before rendering.
One way to deal with this is to delete them from the Quick Access panel but you can also customize the folder by doing the following:
This will let File Explorer handle files without trying to generate snapshot images for them.
Did any of these solutions help? Let us know by leaving a comment in the section below.
More about the topics:quick access
Milan Stanojevic
Windows Toubleshooting Expert
Milan has been enthusiastic about technology ever since his childhood days, and this led him to take interest in all PC-related technologies. He’s a PC enthusiast and he spends most of his time learning about computers and technology.
Before joining WindowsReport, he worked as a front-end web developer. Now, he’s one of the Troubleshooting experts in our worldwide team, specializing in Windows errors & software issues.
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Milan Stanojevic
Windows Toubleshooting Expert
Before joining WindowsReport, he worked as a front-end web developer. Now, he’s specialized in Windows errors & software issues.
