How to Move Libraries above “This PC” in Windows 10?

In Windows 10, Libraries is moved down below in the File Explorer navigation pane. To bring it back to the top (as in Windows 8), here is a registry edit.

Move Libraries above “This PC”

Start Regedit.exe and go to the following key:

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{031E4825-7B94-4dc3-B131-E946B44C8DD5}

In the right pane, double-click the SortOrderIndex value.

move libraries to top - windows 10

By default it’s set to 84 (base: decimal). Changing it to 50 (or any value lower than the SortOrderIndex value assigned for “This PC”) should bring Libraries back to the top, vertically next to Quick access section.

To implement the same in Open / Save As dialogs in 32-bit applications, you need to make the changes under this registry key in addition.

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Wow6432Node\CLSID\{031E4825-7B94-4dc3-B131-E946B44C8DD5}

Note: You may have to take ownership of the above key, and then assign permissions to your account before modifying it.

Applying as a Per-user Setting

If you want to apply the setting only for your user account, use this REG file instead. That way, you don’t have to change registry permissions etc.



Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

;Move Libraries to the top of the navigation pane in Explorer
;For Windows 10 systems.

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Classes\CLSID\{031E4825-7B94-4dc3-B131-E946B44C8DD5}]
"SortOrderIndex"=dword:00000032

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Classes\Wow6432Node\CLSID\{031E4825-7B94-4dc3-B131-E946B44C8DD5}]
"SortOrderIndex"=dword:00000032

Copy the above lines to Notepad and save the file with .REG extension. Double-click the file to run it.

Libraries should be brought back to the top of the navigation pane, after Quick access.

move libraries to top - windows 10

Note that Libraries is hidden by default in File Explorer navigation pane. To show Libraries, right-click an empty area in the folder pane, and enable the “Show libraries” option.


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Ramesh Srinivasan is passionate about Microsoft technologies and he has been a consecutive ten-time recipient of the Microsoft Most Valuable Professional award in the Windows Shell/Desktop Experience category, from 2003 to 2012. He loves to troubleshoot and write about Windows. Ramesh founded Winhelponline.com in 2005.

4 thoughts on “How to Move Libraries above “This PC” in Windows 10?”

  1. Success with change on HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{031E4825-7B94-4dc3-B131-E946B44C8DD5}

    When trying to make change in HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Wow6432Node\CLSID\{031E4825-7B94-4dc3-B131-E946B44C8DD5} got the following message – Cannot edit SortOrderIndex: Error writing the value’s new content.

    Also unable to find the “Show libraries” option.

    Running Windows 10 Pro version 1607 OS Build 14393.105

    Reply
  2. I failed at giving my account permission to edit the Registry keys for this, but using the per-user registry file worked perfectly. Thank you, Ramesh!

    Reply

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