By default, when you click the yellow folder icon on your Windows 11 taskbar, File Explorer opens to a view called “Home” (formerly known as “Quick Access”). This screen displays your frequently accessed folders and recently opened files. While useful for some, many power users find this view cluttered and prefer the classic Windows behavior where File Explorer opens directly to “This PC,” providing an immediate overview of all internal and external hard drives.
You can easily instruct Windows 11 to change the default starting location back to “This PC” via the folder options menu.
How to Change the File Explorer Starting Folder
- Open File Explorer by clicking the folder icon on your taskbar or pressing
Windows Key + E. - Look at the command bar across the top of the window and click the three horizontal dots (…) to open the “See more” drop-down menu.
- Select Options from the bottom of the list.
- A new “Folder Options” dialog box will appear. Ensure you are on the General tab.
- At the very top of the window, locate the drop-down menu labeled Open File Explorer to:.
- Click the menu and change the selection from Home to This PC.
- Click Apply, then click OK.
Close File Explorer entirely and reopen it. You will now be greeted by the familiar layout of your C: drive, any connected USB flash drives, and your core user folders.
How to Completely Clear the “Home” View History
If you prefer to keep the starting location set to “Home” but simply want to purge the list of recently opened files for privacy reasons, you can easily clear the cache.
- Open the Folder Options menu using the exact same steps outlined above.
- On the General tab, look at the bottom section labeled “Privacy”.
- Click the Clear button located next to “Clear File Explorer history”.
This will instantly wipe the “Recent files” list clean without deleting the actual files from your hard drive.