Show or Hide Navigation Pane in File Explorer on Win 10

Updated 5 November 2026 · Standard formula, shown below

To show or hide the navigation pane in File Explorer on Windows 10, open any folder, click the View tab on the ribbon, then click Navigation pane and select or clear Navigation pane from the drop-down menu. The setting applies to all folders and is remembered until you change it again.

What the Navigation Pane Does

The navigation pane is the left-hand column in File Explorer that shows Quick Access, OneDrive, This PC, and network locations. It lets you jump between folders without navigating through the main window, and it also displays the folder tree when you expand entries. For many users, it is the fastest way to move around the file system, especially when copying or moving files between deep folder structures.

The pane has two main parts: the top section lists pinned and frequent locations (Quick Access), and the bottom section shows the full drive and folder hierarchy under This PC. You can expand or collapse any branch by clicking the arrow next to it. If you hide the pane, you lose quick access to these locations, but you gain more horizontal space for file lists.

How to Show or Hide the Navigation Pane

Windows 10 gives you two ways to toggle the pane, both taking effect immediately and permanently until you switch back.

Open any File Explorer window (press Win + E).
Click the View tab on the ribbon at the top.
Click Navigation pane in the Pane group.
From the drop-down, click Navigation pane to check it (show) or uncheck it (hide).

Alternatively, press Alt + V then N then N again to toggle it with the keyboard. The checkmark next to the menu item indicates the pane is visible. The setting is global, so it applies to every folder window you open afterward, not just the current one.

Why You Might Want to Hide It

Hiding the navigation pane is mainly about screen space. On smaller laptops or when you work with wide spreadsheets, images, or code files, every extra pixel of horizontal space helps. Some users also find the pane distracting or prefer to use the address bar and the Up button for navigation.

Another common reason is to prevent accidental clicks that expand or collapse folders, which can be annoying when you are trying to select files quickly. If you rarely use Quick Access or the folder tree, hiding the pane simplifies the interface.

What You Lose When You Hide It

Hiding the pane removes the folder tree, but it does not disable Quick Access or This PC entirely. You can still reach those locations by typing them in the address bar (e.g., Quick access or This PC) or by using the Home and This PC icons on the left side of the title bar if you have them enabled. However, you lose the one-click expandable tree that shows all drives and folders at once.

If you often move files between nested folders, the tree is a big time-saver. Without it, you have to open each folder in the main window or use the address bar’s drop-down arrows to navigate. You also lose the ability to see multiple locations at a glance, such as your Desktop, Documents, and Downloads folders.

Common Problems and Fixes

Sometimes the navigation pane disappears even though you didn’t hide it. This can happen after a Windows update, a registry tweak, or a group policy change. Here are the most common causes and how to fix them:

It is just hidden: Follow the steps above to re-enable it. Check the View tab first.
Explorer crashed or restarted: Press Ctrl + Shift + Esc to open Task Manager, find Windows Explorer under Processes, right-click it, and choose Restart. This often restores the pane to its default state.
Group Policy or registry change: If you are on a work or school PC, an administrator may have disabled the pane. Check with your IT department. On a personal PC, you can open regedit and look for HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer for a value named NoNavPane. If it exists and is set to 1, change it to 0 or delete it, then restart Explorer. Be careful with registry editsâ€”back up first.
Full-screen or tablet mode: In tablet mode, the navigation pane may be hidden automatically to save space. Open Action Center and turn off Tablet mode if you want it back.

If none of these work, a quick restart of your PC usually resets Explorer’s UI state.

Alternatives to Hiding the Entire Pane

Instead of hiding the whole pane, you can customize it to take less space or be less intrusive:

Collapse all branches: Click the arrow next to Quick access and This PC to collapse them. The pane stays but takes up minimal space.
Remove Quick Access: Right-click an item in Quick Access and choose Unpin from Quick access to remove it. You can also right-click Quick access itself and uncheck Show all folders to hide the full tree.
Use the preview pane: If you hide the navigation pane, you can enable the preview pane (View > Preview pane) to see file contents, which may be more useful for images and documents.
Use libraries: Libraries (Documents, Music, Pictures) can be shown in the navigation pane by right-clicking the pane and selecting Show libraries. This gives you a compact way to access common folders without the full tree.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why did my navigation pane disappear after an update?

Windows updates can sometimes reset Explorer settings or introduce a bug that hides the pane. Check the View tab firstâ€”if the checkmark is missing, click it to re-enable. If it is checked but the pane is still gone, restart Explorer or your PC. Rarely, a corrupted user profile can cause persistent UI issues; creating a new local user account can help isolate that.

Can I show the navigation pane only in certain folders?

No. The setting is global in Windows 10. There is no built-in per-folder option. However, you can use folder options to set a default view for all folders of the same type (e.g., all â€œGeneral itemsâ€� folders), but that does not affect the navigation pane.

Does hiding the navigation pane speed up File Explorer?

Not noticeably. The pane is lightweight and does not slow down browsing. Performance issues usually come from large folders, network drives, or indexing. Hiding the pane only frees up screen space, not CPU or memory.

How do I restore the navigation pane to its default state?

Simply re-enable it via the View tab. If you want to reset the entire Explorer layout (including pane widths and column settings), you can delete the BagMRU and Bags keys in the registry under HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer, then restart Explorer. This resets all folder views, so use it as a last resort.

Is there a keyboard shortcut to toggle the navigation pane?

Yes. Press Alt + V to open the View tab, then press N to open the Navigation pane menu, then press N again to toggle it. This works in any File Explorer window.

Can I hide only the Quick Access section but keep the folder tree?

Yes. Right-click on Quick access in the navigation pane and uncheck Show all folders. This removes the This PC tree and shows only Quick Access. To reverse, right-click Quick access and check Show all folders again.

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