File Explorer is one of the most used Windows tools by users. Thanks to it, we can browse all the folders and files that we have stored on our hard drive, or access the content of other external storage such as a pen drive or SD memory. One of its most outstanding features is its navigation panel, which can be essential for some and inconvenient for others.
This navigation panel that we find in File Explorer, both for the Windows 10 and Windows 11 versions, can be useful for quickly navigating between various folders on our computer, since it shows a small panel on the left side, from where we can access the shortcuts of our PC, certain network locations, the OneDrive folder, most frequent folders, the different drives or quick access, among others.
While most users may prefer to have the Windows File Explorer navigation pane in view, others may, or in certain circumstances, want to hide it. Therefore, we are going to see how we can show or hide it in both Windows 10 and Windows 11.
Via the Explorer menu bar
To show or hide the File Explorer navigation panel, it will be enough to perform a few simple steps. The process does not have any complications and can be carried out in both Windows 10 and Windows 11, for which we will explain it separately below.
On Windows 10
In the event that we use Windows 10 as the operating system, the process is extremely simple. It will simply be necessary to open the File Explorer. This is something that we can do using the keyboard shortcut Windows + E or by clicking on its icon on the taskbar or directly opening any folder.
Once opened, we go to the top menu of the browser and click on the “View” option. We will automatically see how a series of options appear just below the top menu organized in different sections, Panels, Design, Current view, Show or hide and Options.
Within each of these options we can find several configuration sections of Windows File Explorer. In this case we have to look at the “Panels” section. There we will find three main options, show or hide the Preview Panel, the Details Panel and the Navigation Panel.
When clicking on the latter, another menu will be displayed where we will be able to indicate if we want to hide or show the file explorer navigation panel, expand to open folder, show all folders or show libraries.
In this case, it will only be necessary to check or uncheck the Navigation Panel option. This will make the panel on the left side of the browser appear or hide in the tool itself. So, whether we like it or not, this way we can quickly and easily hide or show the Windows 10 file explorer navigation pane at any time.
On Windows 11
If we use Windows 11 as our operating system, to show or hide the navigation panel, we must perform these simple steps, which are even easier and more direct than in the Windows 10 version. To do this, we open the Explorer, for which We can use the keyboard shortcut “Windows + E” or click on its icon on the taskbar or directly open any folder.
Once opened, click on the “View” tab at the top, which will open a small drop-down menu. Here, at the bottom, we go to the “Show” option so that a side menu is displayed to the right, where we can see different options such as the Preview Panel, the Details Panel and the Navigation Panel.
Now we can check (to show), or uncheck, (to hide) in the Navigation Panel section.
Use Registry Editor as an alternative
For more advanced users, Microsoft also allows us to show or hide the File Explorer navigation pane from the Registry Editor. For which we have to perform the following steps.
show navigation pane
The first thing we are going to do is open Notepad, for which we will only have to search for it through the Start menu search engine and open it. Then we write the following command as shown in the image
Next, we click on the File option at the top left and select Save As. We choose a location to save the file and give it a name with a .reg extension. Finally, in the “Type” section, we display the menu, select “All files” and click on “Save”.
Next, we open the Registry Editor by pressing the keyboard shortcut Windows + R, which will activate the Run command. Here, we type regedit and hit Enter or OK button.
Since we are going to make changes to it, it is advisable to previously make a backup copy of the registry as a precautionary measure. To do this, click on “File” and “Export”. Then we specify “All in export range”, give it a name and the .reg format and click “Save”.
Finally, we double click on the reg file that we have saved to merge it. This will make a warning window appear, click on Yes to make the changes. Once finished we can delete the .reg file and we will have the navigation panel activated.
Hide the navigation pane
In the event that what we want is to definitively hide the navigation panel, the steps to be carried out are very similar. The first thing will be to open the Notepad and enter the following text as shown in the image.
Next, we click on the File option at the top left and select Save As. We choose a location to save the file and give it a name with a .reg extension. In the “Type” section, we display the menu, select “All files” and “Save”.
Now we access the Registry Editor to make a backup before modification. To do this, press the Windows + R keyboard shortcut, which will activate the Run command. Here, we type regedit and hit Enter or OK button. Then, click on “File” and “Export”. Then we specify “All in export range”, give it a name and the .reg format and click “Save” to get a backup.
Now we only have to double click on the reg file that we have saved to merge it. This will make a warning window appear, click on Yes to make the changes. Once finished we can delete the .reg file and we will have the File Explorer navigation panel hidden.
