{"id":30636,"date":"2022-12-06T14:12:40","date_gmt":"2022-12-06T08:42:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/198.58.113.91\/blog\/?p=30636"},"modified":"2023-03-13T09:29:48","modified_gmt":"2023-03-13T03:59:48","slug":"browse-for-folder-dialog-empty-in-windows-11","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/browse-for-folder-dialog-empty-in-windows-11\/","title":{"rendered":"“Browse For Folder” Dialog Only Shows Desktop in Windows 11"},"content":{"rendered":"

After installing the Windows 11 22H2 update, you may notice that the “Browse for Folder” dialog invoked from various apps may show only the folders on the desktop. In other words, the desktop is shown as the rooted view, and no option exists to choose any other folder outside the desktop.<\/p>\n

\"browse<\/p>\n

[March 2023] UPDATE:<\/strong> The “Browse for Folder” issue seems to have been fixed by the February 28, 2023\u2014KB5022913 (OS Build 22621.1344<\/strong>) Preview.<\/p>\n

Cause<\/h2>\n

This is caused by a bug in 22H2 (windows.fileexplorer.common.dll) or the OneDrive sync client. As of the Windows 11 22H2 build<\/a> 10.0.22621.900, this bug hasn’t been resolved.<\/p>\n

Workaround<\/h2>\n

Disable OneDrive sync for the desktop folder<\/h3>\n

The workaround is to stop syncing<\/a> your Desktop folder with OneDrive. You can have syncing enabled for the other shell folders, though.<\/p>\n

Note: Before proceeding, copy the files in those special folders to another folder or external drive. Please don’t copy them anywhere under Desktop\/Documents\/Pictures. This is because disabling OneDrive backup for a folder erases the local copies of the files. Copying them to a different location beforehand will ensure that you don’t need to download them again from the OneDrive cloud.<\/em><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Right-click the OneDrive icon in the Notification area and click Settings.<\/li>\n
  2. Select the Backup tab, and click Manage Backup<\/li>\n
  3. In the Manage folder backup dialog, click on the “Stop backup” link for “Desktop.”<\/li>\n
  4. Click Stop backup in the confirmation dialog that appears.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    \"browse<\/p>\n

    The Browse For Folder dialog should now populate the items correctly!<\/p>\n

    \n

    <\/a>Option 2: Apply a registry fix<\/h3>\n

    Update (Dec 2022):<\/strong> This option causes an annoying side-effect where the users will be unable to rename<\/a> folders on the desktop after applying this fix. This has been reported by user “mowgus” from the Microsoft forums.<\/em><\/p>\n

    The trick is to replace the existing “ParentFolder” value data {5E6C858F-0E22-4760-9AFE-EA3317B67173}<\/code> with %USERPROFILE%<\/code> or {59031a47-3f72-44a7-89c5-5595fe6b30ee}<\/code>.<\/del><\/p>\n

      \n
    1. Start the Registry Editor (regedit.exe<\/code>)<\/del><\/li>\n
    2. Go to the following branch:<\/del>\n
      HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\\SOFTWARE\\Microsoft\\Windows\\CurrentVersion\\Explorer\\FolderDescriptions\\{A52BBA46-E9E1-435f-B3D9-28DAA648C0F6}<\/del><\/pre>\n<\/li>\n
    3. Double-click ParentFolder<\/strong> and set its data to:<\/del>\n
      %USERPROFILE%<\/del><\/pre>\n<\/li>\n
    4. Exit the Registry Editor.<\/del><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
      I hope MS fixes this bug in the next update.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
      After installing the Windows 11 22H2 update, you may notice that the “Browse for Folder” dialog invoked from various apps may show only the folders on the desktop. In other words, the desktop is shown as the rooted view, and no option exists to choose any other folder outside the desktop.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[869],"tags":[79,352,441,947],"class_list":["post-30636","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-windows-11","tag-bug","tag-onedrive","tag-registry","tag-shell-folders"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1595,"url":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/error-folder-cant-be-moved-here-documents-pictures-onedrive\/","url_meta":{"origin":30636,"position":0},"title":"Error “The folder can’t be moved here” Moving Documents\/Pictures, Caused by OneDrive","author":"Ramesh","date":"February 8, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"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\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Windows 10"","block_context":{"text":"Windows 10","link":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/category\/microsoft\/windows\/windows-10\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"onedrive manage folders","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/onedrive-manage-backup.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/onedrive-manage-backup.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/onedrive-manage-backup.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/onedrive-manage-backup.png?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":46006,"url":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/shellnew-only-folder-listed\/","url_meta":{"origin":30636,"position":1},"title":"New Menu Shows Only “Folder” in the Desktop Context Menu","author":"Ramesh","date":"May 14, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"When you right-click on the desktop and click New, the New menu may only show the \"Folder\" entry. The other options, such as \"Shortcut,\" \"Text document,\" and \"Bitmap image,\" may be missing in the New menu. It's not typical for the Desktop folder to show only the \"Folder\" entry, and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Windows 10"","block_context":{"text":"Windows 10","link":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/category\/microsoft\/windows\/windows-10\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"new menu lists only folder","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/new-menu-lists-only-folder.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":182,"url":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/fix-thumbnail-preview-for-pictures-w7-vista\/","url_meta":{"origin":30636,"position":2},"title":"Fix: Thumbnails Not Showing up in File Explorer","author":"Ramesh","date":"April 14, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Are your image files showing up with a generic mountain and lake scene instead of the miniature or thumbnail display in File Explorer? And video files may show up with a generic icon\/thumbnail. 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RELATED:\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Windows"","block_context":{"text":"Windows","link":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/category\/microsoft\/windows\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"thumbnails blank -- fix the IconServiceLib registry setting","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/04\/iconservicelib-registry-thumbnail-fix.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/04\/iconservicelib-registry-thumbnail-fix.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/04\/iconservicelib-registry-thumbnail-fix.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/04\/iconservicelib-registry-thumbnail-fix.png?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1592,"url":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/windows-10-shell-folders-paths-defaults-restore\/","url_meta":{"origin":30636,"position":3},"title":"Windows 10\/11 User Shell Folders Restore Default Paths","author":"Ramesh","date":"February 7, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"This post provides you with the list of User Shell Folders in Windows 10\/11 and their default paths. 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However, the update also removes the \"Folders\" group in This PC. As you see in the above screenshot, only the \"Devices and drives\" section is available. 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