You know that the Favorite Links area in Windows Explorer can be hidden by moving its resize handle to the top. After tinkering with the registry I found a way to remove Favorite Links and prevent the user from enabling it again. The resize cursor wouldn’t appear when you hover your mouse pointer over the Favorite Links border, after applying this registry edit.

Favorite Links Lock Down – Registry Edit

Windows Explorer

Start Regedit.exe and navigate to the following location:

Double-click ProperTreeExpandoSizer and change its Value data from:

to

Open dialog box

Use this Registry location for Open dialog box:

Save dialog box

Screenshots

Fig 1: Favorite Links hidden, and the resize cursor shown.

Fig 2: Favorite Links removed, and no resize cursor. Horizontal line disappears.

Registry Fixes

I’ve put together a Zip file containing the above edits. Download favlinks_reg.zip, extract the contents to a folder and run the appropriate REG file(s). [Undo Information: To reverse the changes, run the corresponding "hide" REG file, which brings back the resize cursor for Favorite Links.]

Related Posts

• Favorite Links Area in Windows Vista Explorer Is Empty
• Dragging a Folder to Favorite Links Moves the Folder Instead of Creating Shortcut
• How to Add a Folder or Library to Windows Explorer Favorites in Windows 7
• Add Favorite Links Folder to the Vista Start Menu
• Shell Commands to Access the Special Folders in Windows 7/Vista/XP

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to our RSS feed! We feature Tips, Troubleshooting information, Scripts and Utilities for Microsoft Windows Operating Systems!

Prefer an E-mail subscription?

Enter your email address:

Delivered by FeedBurner