Windows 10 Quick Access is missing "Frequent Folders" and "Recent Files" sections

Check this registry key:

HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\FolderTypes\{24ccb8a6-c45a-477d-b940-3382b9225668}\TopViews\{00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000}

& see what the 'GroupBy entries look like.  Mine are thus:

"GroupBy"="System.Home.Grouping"

Good Luck,

Keith

Check this registry key:

HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\FolderTypes\{24ccb8a6-c45a-477d-b940-3382b9225668}\TopViews\{00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000}

& see what the 'GroupBy entries look like.  Mine are thus:

"GroupBy"="System.Home.Grouping"

Good Luck,

Keith

I suddenly have the same problem with my Windows 10 Professional system. I checked {24ccb8a6-c45a-477d-b940-3382b9225668} in the registry, but there is no Value called "GroupBY", only "(Default)", "CanonicalName" and "Layout Type"

Apology; I found "GroupBy" settings under the subkey: {HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\FolderTypes\{24ccb8a6-c45a-477d-b940-3382b9225668}\TopViews\{00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000}. GroupBy Value data are 'System.Home.Grouping'

My apologies  for the bum steer --- I had just started investigating the preset folder views & while that key is the template, it's not where things go wrong.  Pretty sure I can help this time because I managed to recreate you problem!   :-)

WooHoo!!!

So here are the steps to fix it:

1. Open Regedit & Task Manager.  Close all File Explorer windows.
2. In Task Manager, Locate Windows Explorer near the bottom of the Processes list. Select it, right-click & End task.  This will kill your Desktop but open apps are functional & you can Alt+Tab between them.
3. Alt+Tab to Regedit, Ctrl+F to open the Search dialog, search for "Bags" --- search only in keys.  This should take you to:
   
   HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Local Settings\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Shell\Bags
   
4. Ct rl+F again & paste the following value into the search box:
   
   {24CCB8A6-C45A-477D-B940-3382B9225668}
   
   Again, searching only Keys.
5. You should find this key is a child of a key named "Shell" which in turn is a child of a numerically named child of "Bags"
6. Delete the numbered key.
7. Ctrl+F again & search for "Streams", only search keys.
8. This should land you at:
   
   HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Streams
   
   
9. If this key has a subkey named "Defaults", see if that contains a value named
   {24CCB8A6-C45A-477D-B940-3382B9225668} and if so, delete it.  If not, you're done!
10. Alt+Tab  to Task Manger.  File ->Run new task -> "explorer".  This will restart the Desktop.
11. Open File Manager & your Quick Access should be grouped!!!

Whew!!!

Good Luck,

Keith

Thanks a lot Keith!

While I hit a snag at step 4 itself - the "{24CCB8A6-C45A-477D-B940-3382B9225668}" key was not where you said it would be, and so I could not follow the rest of the steps, just the step of ending the "Windows Explorer" process seems to have done the trick.

After closing Windows Explorer, I used Task Manager to start a new explorer process, and now Quick Access has both Frequent Folders and Recent Files.

Strange you didn't have that value, but glad it's sorted.

keith

Keith, thank you for all the information. Unfortunately, it does not solve the issue on my PC. I tried several times, of course after having made a registry backup, after having deleted everything in Quick Access. When I try to pin a folder to Quick Access I invariably get an error message "the parameter is incorrect".

I found that the long string value {-----) has 8 hits in my saved registry. I list them below, the first one comes after searching keys for "Bags" according to your instruction. The "Streams" search hits a key without "Default" subkey. It has three subkeys, 0, 1 and Desktop. Subkeys 0 and 1 have values ViewView2.

I abbreviated the keys below, hope it is clear enough.

HK= HKEY, HKCU= HKEY_Current_User, HKLM= HKEY_Local_Machine, LS=Local Settings, SW=Software, MS=Microsoft, Win= Windows, CV=Current_Version, Cl=Classes

1. HK_Classes_Root\LS\SW\MS\Win\Shell\Bags\4792\ComDlg\{.......}

2. HK_Classes_Root\LS\SW\MS\Win\Shell\Bags\4792\Shell\{.......}

3. HKCU\SW\Classes\LS\SW\MS\Win\Shell\Bags\4792\Shell\{.......}

4. HKCU\SW\Classes\LS\SW\MS\Win\Shell\Bags\4792\ComDlg\{.......}

5. HKLM\SW\MS\Win\CV\Explorer\FolderTypes\{.......}

6. HKLM\SW\Wow6432Node\MS\Win\CV\Explorer\FolderTypes\{.......}

7. HK_Users\S-1-5-21-315870.....-1000\SW\Cl\LS\SW\MS\Win\Shell\Bags\4792\Shell\{.......}

8. HK_Users\S-1-5-21-315870.....-1000_Classes\LS\SW\MS\Win\Shell\Bags\4729\Shell\{.......}

I only deleted the numbered key ....4792\ of the second hit, with the Shell child. It does get rid of ComDlg child as well of course. I wonder if you have any ideas why this deletion does not work on my machine.

Best regards, Albert

My reply was for the OP who had an issue with the saved view of Quick Access having lost its grouping categories.  The "Parameter is incorrect" is a different situation --- one that I haven't seen a definitive answer to at this point.

So for this post, I was directing the OP to the Bags key because that contains all Saved folder views.

Not having any long {......} entries under Streams simply means you haven't used "Apply ot Folders" to set a template for all folders of a given type.

So, if your view of Quick Access was grouped before you deleted your Bags subkey, you wouldn't notice any difference.

Keith

Thanks Keith - but this key {24CCB8A6-C45A-477D-B940-3382B9225668} appears in at least 5 locations under HKCR\Local Settings\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Shell\Bags\NNNN...

I'm reluctant to delete all of them!

Deleting the first one made no difference, and fortunately I saved the key and re-installed it. Maybe I'll try deleting them in turn, and see if that works...

You can delete all the numbered subkeys of:

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Local Settings\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Shell\Bags

and all you'll lose is save folder views.  None of them exist in a new user profile.  I was merely attempting a more "surgical" approach by searching for the UUID unique to the Quick Access folder.

The Bags entries under HKCR, HKCU, and HKU\<USER_ID>\Classes are all different views of the same underlying info ---- deleting one deletes the others.

Keith