You can add custom folders to the the Explorer navigation pane, in pretty much all versions of Windows. This post has the instructions on how to add a custom folder under This PC in the navigation pane in Windows 10 File Explorer.
The easiest way to manually add a custom folder to the navigation pane is to mimic the settings of an existing or built-in shell folder like Music or Videos, and use them with a custom GUID. For example, here is the Videos shell folder’s registry setting that we’ll use with a different GUID and point to a custom folder.
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\CLSID\{f86fa3ab-70d2-4fc7-9c99-fcbf05467f3a}]
"DescriptionID"=dword:00000003
"Infotip"=hex(2):40,00,25,00,53,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,52,00,6f,00,\
6f,00,74,00,25,00,5c,00,73,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,33,00,32,00,5c,\
00,73,00,68,00,65,00,6c,00,6c,00,33,00,32,00,2e,00,64,00,6c,00,6c,00,2c,00,\
2d,00,31,00,32,00,36,00,39,00,30,00,00,00
"System.IsPinnedToNameSpaceTree"=dword:00000001
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\CLSID\{f86fa3ab-70d2-4fc7-9c99-fcbf05467f3a}\DefaultIcon]
@=hex(2):25,00,53,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,52,00,6f,00,6f,00,74,00,25,\
00,5c,00,73,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,33,00,32,00,5c,00,69,00,6d,00,\
61,00,67,00,65,00,72,00,65,00,73,00,2e,00,64,00,6c,00,6c,00,2c,00,2d,00,31,\
00,38,00,39,00,00,00
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\CLSID\{f86fa3ab-70d2-4fc7-9c99-fcbf05467f3a}\InProcServer32]
@=hex(2):25,00,73,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,72,00,6f,00,6f,00,74,00,25,\
00,5c,00,73,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,33,00,32,00,5c,00,73,00,68,00,\
65,00,6c,00,6c,00,33,00,32,00,2e,00,64,00,6c,00,6c,00,00,00
"ThreadingModel"="Both"
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\CLSID\{f86fa3ab-70d2-4fc7-9c99-fcbf05467f3a}\Instance]
"CLSID"="{0E5AAE11-A475-4c5b-AB00-C66DE400274E}"
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\CLSID\{f86fa3ab-70d2-4fc7-9c99-fcbf05467f3a}\Instance\InitPropertyBag]
"Attributes"=dword:00000011
"TargetKnownFolder"="{35286a68-3c57-41a1-bbb1-0eae73d76c95}"
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\CLSID\{f86fa3ab-70d2-4fc7-9c99-fcbf05467f3a}\ShellFolder]
"Attributes"=dword:f080004d
"FolderValueFlags"=dword:00000029
"SortOrderIndex"=dword:00000000
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\Classes\CLSID\{f86fa3ab-70d2-4fc7-9c99-fcbf05467f3a}]
"DescriptionID"=dword:00000003
"Infotip"=hex(2):40,00,25,00,53,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,52,00,6f,00,\
6f,00,74,00,25,00,5c,00,73,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,33,00,32,00,5c,\
00,73,00,68,00,65,00,6c,00,6c,00,33,00,32,00,2e,00,64,00,6c,00,6c,00,2c,00,\
2d,00,31,00,32,00,36,00,39,00,30,00,00,00
"System.IsPinnedToNameSpaceTree"=dword:00000001
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\Classes\CLSID\{f86fa3ab-70d2-4fc7-9c99-fcbf05467f3a}\DefaultIcon]
@=hex(2):25,00,53,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,52,00,6f,00,6f,00,74,00,25,\
00,5c,00,73,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,33,00,32,00,5c,00,69,00,6d,00,\
61,00,67,00,65,00,72,00,65,00,73,00,2e,00,64,00,6c,00,6c,00,2c,00,2d,00,31,\
00,38,00,39,00,00,00
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\Classes\CLSID\{f86fa3ab-70d2-4fc7-9c99-fcbf05467f3a}\InProcServer32]
@=hex(2):25,00,73,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,72,00,6f,00,6f,00,74,00,25,\
00,5c,00,73,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,33,00,32,00,5c,00,73,00,68,00,\
65,00,6c,00,6c,00,33,00,32,00,2e,00,64,00,6c,00,6c,00,00,00
"ThreadingModel"="Both"
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\Classes\CLSID\{f86fa3ab-70d2-4fc7-9c99-fcbf05467f3a}\Instance]
"CLSID"="{0E5AAE11-A475-4c5b-AB00-C66DE400274E}"
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\Classes\CLSID\{f86fa3ab-70d2-4fc7-9c99-fcbf05467f3a}\Instance\InitPropertyBag]
"Attributes"=dword:00000011
"TargetKnownFolder"="{35286a68-3c57-41a1-bbb1-0eae73d76c95}"
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\Classes\CLSID\{f86fa3ab-70d2-4fc7-9c99-fcbf05467f3a}\ShellFolder]
"Attributes"=dword:f080004d
"FolderValueFlags"=dword:00000029
"SortOrderIndex"=dword:00000000
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\MyComputer\NameSpace\{f86fa3ab-70d2-4fc7-9c99-fcbf05467f3a}]
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\MyComputer\NameSpace\{f86fa3ab-70d2-4fc7-9c99-fcbf05467f3a}]
How to Add a Custom Folder under “This PC” in Explorer?
- Copy the above contents to Notepad, and save with .reg extension (e.g.
mytools.reg). Don’t close the file yet. - Generate a unique ID (GUID) string by running the command
New-Guidin PowerShell. Alternately, you can visit GuidGen.com website that generates random GUID strings for you (uses Microsoft’s GUIDGen.exe at the backend.) - Copy the GUID to Clipboard. In this example, the GUID is
{d464e152-bde0-4a84-9160-bd183268ad35}
- In Notepad, replace every occurrence of the string
{f86fa3ab-70d2-4fc7-9c99-fcbf05467f3a}with{d464e152-bde0-4a84-9160-bd183268ad35} - Save the .reg file, and close Notepad.
- Double-click the .reg file to apply the settings to the registry.
- Start the Registry Editor (
Regedit.exe) and navigate to the following branches one by one:HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\CLSID\{d464e152-bde0-4a84-9160-bd183268ad35} HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\Classes\CLSID\{d464e152-bde0-4a84-9160-bd183268ad35} - In the right-pane, change the value data for
(Default)andInfoTipaccordingly.
(InfoTip text will be shown when you hover the mouse over the custom folder in File Explorer.) - Then navigate to the
DefaultIconsubkeys below:HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\CLSID\{d464e152-bde0-4a84-9160-bd183268ad35}\DefaultIcon HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\Classes\CLSID\{d464e152-bde0-4a84-9160-bd183268ad35}\DefaultIcon - Set the icon value accordingly. I chose the
shell32.dll,35icon for theMy Toolsfolder we’re adding. - Navigate to the
Instance\InitPropertyBagsubkeys below:HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\CLSID\{d464e152-bde0-4a84-9160-bd183268ad35}\Instance\InitPropertyBag HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\Classes\CLSID\{d464e152-bde0-4a84-9160-bd183268ad35}\Instance\InitPropertyBag - Delete the
TargetKnownFoldervalue, as we’re going to add a custom folder path. - Create a string value (REG_SZ) named
TargetFolderPathand set its value data, with the full folder path.Thats it! The
My Toolsfolder should show up in the navigation pane, as well as in the Folders section in This PC view.
Bonus Tips
Tip #1: Add the custom folder under “Folders (6)” and/or “Network Locations” section
If you’re adding a mapped drive or folder pointing to network location, you can make the item appear under the Network locations section in This PC view. To do so, modify the DescriptionID value (see screenshot #2 above) in this registry key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\CLSID\{d464e152-bde0-4a84-9160-bd183268ad35}
Set the DescriptionID to 9 (0x00000009)
- Setting
DescriptionIDto3shows it under Folders category. - Setting
DescriptionIDto9shows it under Network locations category.
Tip #2: Move “My Tools” folder to the top of the This PC hierarchy
To move My Tools to the top of the This PC hierarchy, create a DWORD (32 bit) value named SortOrderIndex, in the following registry key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\CLSID\{d464e152-bde0-4a84-9160-bd183268ad35}
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\Classes\CLSID\{d464e152-bde0-4a84-9160-bd183268ad35}
Set the SortOrderIndex to a low value.
For example, setting it to 0x00000030 moves the item up, like this:
That’s it! You can add as many custom folders under This PC (My Computer) in the Explorer navigation pane as you want. Make sure you generate a different GUID from the GuidGen.com website, for every folder you want to add to the navigation pane.
Note: The REG file I made several years ago for Windows XP (Ref my post My Pictures, My Music and My Videos namespace extensions for the Windows Explorer folder pane) still works in Windows 10. That uses a slightly different method, where Shdocvw.dll is referenced instead of Shell32.dll. And if you’re using the old method for Windows 10, you need to add the System.IsPinnedtoNameSpaceTree DWORD value, and change the Attributes data to f080004d, in those sample REG files. Both methods work fine.
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About the author
Ramesh Srinivasan founded Winhelponline.com back in 2005. He is passionate about Microsoft technologies and he has been a Microsoft Most Valuable Professional (MVP) for 10 consecutive years from 2003 to 2012.
What would be the appropriate values for adding the Recycle Bin under This PC? Is the folder’s GUID really the only thing that matters?
Anon: You can try something like System.IsPinnedToNameSpaceTree (DWORD:0x00000001) for Recycle Bin GUID, and implement the GUID under My Computer namespace. No need to generate another shell object instance as above.
I like to put Google Drive under my PC like Microsoft’s OneDrive is listed. Will this work?
@Davin. Sure.. can be done. Pl check out https://www.winhelponline.com/blog/pin-google-drive-navigation-pane/
You can also just drop the shortcut into “%appdata%\Microsoft\Windows\Network Shortcuts” and not mess with the registry at all. It will show up in exactly the same place in the nav pane.
@Rod B: That didn’t work. It did however add the item under Network category in the main window. But no shortcut showed up in the nav pane.
Using the method I mentioned, adding Recycle Bin is very simple: (1) show the icon on the desktop if it’s not there already, (2) right click and Create Shortcut, (3) move the shortcut to the folder I specified
@Ramesh My apologies, I realize now I ended up on a post for Win10. This method works on 8.1
@Rod B: No worries. I learnt something new. Shall test that out in 8.1 certainly.
This worked for 1 folder, giving me a total of 8 folders (7 default ones plus my custom one). However, when I tried to add a 9th, the folder does not show in This PC.
For some weird reason, navigating to subfolders in one of these links is damn slow. I don’t know why. Going to the linked folder the default way is fast as always.
In some file dialogs the new systempaths are not shown.
For example in the one Adobe is useing.
@Jonas: For 32-bit apps to see the custom folder, the setting has to be duplicated under
HKCR\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Nodekey. The article has now been updated!Thanks a lot
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\CLSID\{d464e152-bde0-4a84-9160-bd183268ad35} branch missing for me
how do you undo this
I successfully added a custom folder under this pc using your blog.
I’m hardly trying to achieve what happens with the default user shell folders like music, pictures and the others.
That is, if I type win key + r and write down the path C:\Users\username\Pictures explorer opens with the pictures folder selected on the left navigation pane.
This does not happen with the custom folder added under this pc, instead the c drive is selected on the navigation pane.
I tried all the possible registry tweaks but with no success.
Is it possible to make so that explorer recognizes the custom folder added under this pc and acts like it does with the default folders under this pc?