If you’ve OneDrive options set to save documents and pictures in OneDrive, instead of This PC, the shell folders Documents, Pictures, and its three sub-folders Saved Pictures, Camera Roll, and Screenshots, are redirected to the OneDrive folder.
With this setting on, the user can’t use the Location tab in the special folder properties to move them or restore the default location. In doing so, Access is denied — The folder can’t be moved here error would appear.
This post provides you with the list of User Shell Folders in Windows 10/11 and their default paths. If you’ve moved a shell folder earlier, you can restore it to the default location via the folder properties Location tab in most cases.
However, there are situations where the Location tab option can’t be used — i.e. when two special folders such as Music and Videos become merged and point to the same location. In that case, clicking Restore Default in the folder properties Location tab causes an error.
In such cases, resetting the respective shell folder path(s) in the registry is the only possible solution. This article provides the .reg files needed to revert to the default shell folder paths quickly and also includes the list of shell folders and their default path for your reference. This article applies to Windows 10 and Windows 11.
Windows Operating System upgrades and version updates would leave plenty of files behind in the system drive. This is because Windows keeps the files from the previous versions of Windows in a separate folder in case the user wants to roll back the major update (or OS upgrade).Read more
The Build Number, Version, “Bit”ness (32-bit or 64-bit) of your Windows installation can be determined using many ways, and here are some of the methods listed. Screenshots are from a Windows 10 PC, but most of the information applies to all versions of Windows, including Windows 11.Read more
Windows 10 and 11, as you know, includes the Microsoft Print to PDF virtual printer built-in that can print (convert) documents to PDF format from any application.
Microsoft Print to PDF is a handy tool in Windows 10/11. In the previous Windows Operating Systems, users needed to use a third-party tool or virtual printer driver to convert documents or web pages to PDF. Most users, including me, have been relying upon the Cute PDF Writer driver or similar drivers supplied with PDF reader applications — e.g., Adobe Acrobat or Fox It Reader. And don’t forget Microsoft’s own Office Add-in: Microsoft Save as PDF or XPS.
Interestingly, many Windows 10/11 users accidentally delete Microsoft Print to PDF and wonder how to restore it. This post explains how to restore/reinstall the Microsoft Print to PDF printer if you’ve accidentally deleted it.Read more
The Quick Access feature in Windows 10/11 provides a convenient way to access folders you frequently use by pinning them. However, in some situations, the pinned shortcuts in Quick Access get stuck, and you cannot remove or unpin them.Read more
Windows Spotlight brings to you some fantastic images that are worth storing. Unfortunately, at present, Windows 10/11 doesn’t have a GUI option to save these lock screen wallpaper images; this has to be done manually or using a custom app or script. This post tells you how to save Windows Spotlight lock screen images automatically or manually.Read more
The Recent Places shell folder that showed up under the Favorites area in the navigation pane in the earlier Windows OS, is not shown by default in Windows 10 and 11. Windows 10/11’s Quick access (which replaces Favorites) shows the “Frequently” used folders rather than the “Recently” opened folders.
The Recent Places shell folder still exists in Windows 10 and 11. Recent Places, which is now known as Recent folders, is very useful in Explorer and Common File Open/Save As dialog boxes in various applications. Today’s post shows you how to do the following things:
You may be wondering why Windows Photo Viewer, which previously opened images in a single window instance when multiple files were selected and previewed, is now opening up separate windows or instances–one for each image file selected.
The Windows Photo Viewer multiple instances problem usually seen in Windows 10 or 1 is not due to any design change, and no functionality is broken. It’s a simple file type association setting and fixing it that can straighten things up.
Selecting multiple files in a folder, right-clicking, and selecting preview should open a single Windows Photo Viewer window, and the user can cycle through the chosen set of images using the arrow keys. This is the expected behavior, and that’s how Windows Photo Viewer worked in the earlier OS.
You don’t have to read the next section if you’re not looking for an explanation for this problem. Proceed straight to the Solution part.
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Quick access, introduced in Windows 10, replaces the Favorites feature present in the earlier versions of Windows. It lets you pin your favorite folders, and it also lists frequently accessed folders.
In addition, File Explorer in Windows 10/11 by default displays the special user folders at the top, as well as in the navigation pane pinned under This PC. The shell folders namely 3D Objects, Desktop, Documents, Downloads, Music, Pictures, and Videos show up above the fold. These folder icons clutter the view, and push the disk drives category down below, which some users dislike.
This article tells you how to remove Quick access and also hide the special user folders from This PC view — both from the right pane as well as from the navigation pane.
