How to remove the folders from “This PC” on Windows 10?

For ages, users accessed their hard drives, network locations, and removable storage devices through My Computer in different versions of the Windows operating system. However, the last OS with the My Computer explorer is Windows 7. The traditional My Computer was renamed to Computer, and then to This PC in Windows 8.1, and remained that way in Windows 10.

The changes did not end with the names. Microsoft began to display 6 extra folders in This PC in both Windows 8.1 and Windows 10. These include the Videos, Pictures, Music, Downloads, Documents, and Desktop folders. They appear just above the Devices and Drives section of This PC.

While the addition of these folders may help with ease of access to certain locations, it doesn’t sit well with most users. This is because users have grown to identify My Computer (now This PC) as an explorer for their drives and devices alone. This has led to a lot of users asking the question “Can I remove extra folders from Windows 10 Explorer This PC?”

The simple answer is Yes. While Windows 8.1 users have a hack to do this in their machines, the procedure is quite different for Windows 10. This is because Microsoft introduced some Registry changes to Windows 10.

In this article, we will show you how to remove the folders from ‘This PC’ in Windows 10.

How to Remove the Folders From ‘This PC’ In Windows 10

We will teach you how to remove the folders from This PC in Windows 10 by implementing changes in your computer’s registry. However, note that you can perform this task only if you have administrator access to the computer.

If you’re not an administrator, probably because it’s a work computer, you can simply hide the extra folders by clicking the Folders heading located at the top of This PC. When you do this, the Folders section will collapse, but the heading will still be visible.

If you want to completely remove the folders along with the Folder heading, you’ll need to implement changes in Registry.

Microsoft is utilizing a new string known as “ThisPCPolicy” in Registry. The extra folders are visible in This PC because their strings are set to Show. So, to hide any of the 6 extra folders, you simply need to set its string to Hide.

How to remove the folders from ‘This PC’ in Windows 10 through Registry

1. Tap the Windows and R buttons on your keyboard together.
2. In the Run dialog box, type regedit and hit Enter.
3. The Registry Editor will open.

When you get to this point, follow these steps to locate the keys of each folder:

1. Expand HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE.
2. Expand SOFTWARE.
3. Click Microsoft.
4. Click Windows.
5. Open FolderDescriptions

Once you get here, take note of each folder’s key:

Pictures folder: {0ddd015d-b06c-45d5-8c4c-f59713854639}.

Videos folder: {35286a68-3c57-41a1-bbb1-0eae73d76c95}.

Downloads folder: {7d83ee9b-2244-4e70-b1f5-5393042af1e4}.

Music folder: {a0c69a99-21c8-4671-8703-7934162fcf1d}.

Desktop folder: {B4BFCC3A-DB2C-424C-B029-7FE99A87C641}.

Documents folder: {f42ee2d3-909f-4907-8871-4c22fc0bf756}.

Locate the key for each folder and click it. After this, click “PropertyBag.” The string will appear on the right-hand side of the Registry Editor. Now, right click the “ThisPCPolicy” string, and then click Modify. In the box that opens, replace Show with Hide under the Value Data text box, and then click OK.

Note that all the keys mentioned above contain the “ThisPCPolicy” string with the exception of the key for the Desktop folder. So, you’ll need to manually create the “ThisPCPolicy” string for it. To do this:

1. Right-click anywhere in the right-hand side of the Registry Editor, place your mouse over New, and then click String Value.
2. Rename “New Value #1” to “ThisPCPolicy” (without quotes) and hit enter.
3. You can now set the Value Data and hide the Desktop folder.

Now, go to This PC and refresh it. You’ll notice the folders you’ve hidden will no longer be displayed.

You can choose to hide or show any folder using this method. If you want a hidden folder to be displayed again, you can simply follow the process explained above and change the Value Data to Show.

You can now enjoy the traditional view of the Windows 7’s My Computer on your Windows 10’s This PC. Make sure you strictly follow the laid-out steps in order to avoid causing Registry problems. If you also want to increase the performance of your system, secure private data that are stored on your hard drive, and keep your computer’s registry clean, we recommend that you install Auslogics BoostSpeed. This is a sophisticated tool that removes invalid entries and corrupt keys from the Windows registry with precision, cleans out junk and other unneeded files, and tackles speed-reducing issues in order to ensure in optimum performance.

Do you think the addition of extra folders in This PC is an improvement?

Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below!