Navigation Pane in Vista Windows Explorer

How to Turn the Navigation Pane On or Off in Vista​

   Information

This will show you how to turn the Navigation Pane on or off in Vista. The Navigation Pane displays the Favorite Links and Folder Tree inside a Windows Explorer window. It iis turned on by default.

   Note

The Navigation Pane pane Layout settings are universal for all Windows Explorer folder templates. It can only be turned on or off in all windows.

   Warning

If you want to have a folder open in a separate window all the time, then you will need to turn off the Navigation pane. For how, see: How to Open Each Folder in the Same or it's Own Separate Window in Vista

EXAMPLE: The Navigation Pane in Windows Explorer

​

​

OPTION ONE

Through Windows Explorer

1. Click on the Organize toolbar button in Windows Explorer.​

​

2. Click on Layout.​

​

3. To Turn Off the Navigation Pane -​

A) Click on Navigation Pane to unhighlight the icon.​

4. To Turn On the Navigation Pane -​

A) Click on Navigation Pane to highlight the icon.​

​

​

​

OPTION TWO

Through a REG File Download

1. To Turn On the Navigation Pane in Windows Explorer -​

​

A) Click on the Download button below to download the​

Turn_Navigation_Pane_On.reg file below.​

​

​

B) Go to step 3.​

2. To Turn Off the Navigation Pane in Windows Explorer - ​

​

A) Click on the Download button below to download the​

Turn_Navigation_Pane_Off.reg file below.​

​

​

3. Click on Save, and save the .reg file to the desktop.​

​

4. Right click the .reg file (On Desktop) and click on Merge.​

​

5. Click on Run, Yes, Yes, and OK when prompted.​

​

6. Close and reopen any open Windows Explorer window to apply.​

​

7. When done, you can delete the downloaded .reg file on the desktop if you like.​

​

That's it,
Shawn

Related Tutorials

---

• How to Change the Open Folder Icon in Vista
• How to Open or Use Favorite Links in Windows Explorer for Vista
• How to Open Each Folder in the Same or it's Own Separate Window in Vista
• How to Turn the Preview Pane On or Off in Vista
• How to Enable or Disable the Preview Pane in Vista
• How to Enable or Disable the Menu Bar in Vista
• How to Hide or Show the Navigation Pane Folders Tree Lines in Vista
• How to Fix Favorite Links Empty in Vista Windows Explorer
• How to Disable Auto Arrange in Vista Windows Explorer to have Free Sorting

 

[Brink]

Hello Edgordil,

Sorry, but I'm not aware of any way to move the Navigation Pane like that.

 

[shin0bi272]

Hi everyone,

Im having a rather frustrating issue with vista. It seems that if you turn off the nagivation (not navigation but nagivation because its a nagging issue) pane it will be off in all folders which youd expect. But if you turn it on for one folder its back on for all folders.

If you right click and click explore while its off for all folders the nagivation pane will only stay on till you double click a folder then it turns off.

I would like to be able to view some folders in folder view with the nagivation pane enabled and the rest not but vista doesnt seem to want to let me do this... anyone know how?

 

[Brink]

Hello Shin0bi, and welcome to Vista Forums.

Sorry, but it all or none with the Navigation Pane.

 

[shin0bi272]

Drat! god forbid micro$oft lets us control the way we view things

Well thanks for the quick reply

 

[MrElectrifyer]

Navigation Panel in Vista Windows Explorer

Hi Vista Admin Brink, just have a silly question about windows explorer. What is the main name of the explorer left-sidebar (or navigation bar) that appears in the window when I try opening a file from a some windows program, here is an image of what I am referring to (in the red border) (note that this is specifically the open.. file window of game maker 8.0).



I have been searching google for a way to replace/modify the icons in the sidebar, most of all, I want to replace the "Documents" folder with "Links" Folder, so that when this type of navigation bar appears, I can use the links in the "Links" folder to navigate faster. Unfortunately, I just don't know a unique official name for it, so I wasn't getting correct search results.
I have done this before in one of my OS can't remember which one it was (Vista or 7, yep dual boot ) nor how I did it (TuneUp Utilities 2010 TuneUp Styler, don't even know where the link is ) after I had a bad sector (no clue what caused this one ) and had to replace my hard-drive and start fresh (about 5 months ago).

Please would you have any idea of what the official name is and any way I could replace/modify those icons? Please Replay ASAP

 

[Brink]

Hello Mr Electrifyer,

Technically it's still called the Navigation Pane, but just in the "Save As", "Open", etc... smaller browse type boxes. Unfortunately I do not know how to change the icons for these either.

 

[MrElectrifyer]

one thing I noticed just a moment ago is that the documents link had automatically changed to my user account folder the next time I tryepd opening something, does that ring a bell?

 

[Brink]

Fraid not.

 

[arlanda]

@MrElectrifyer: it's called the "Places Bar". You can modify these using TweakUI for XP.

There's no new TweakUI for Vista/Win 7 yet and the closest I've found is called Ultimate Windows Tweaker. Unfortunately, there's no option to modify the Places Bar.

@Brink: I came here looking for a way to quickly toggle on/off the Navigation Pane. I'm getting sick of using the menu and would like to use a button instead. Any idea?

 

[Brink]

Hello Siffy,

Other than some unknown 3rd party program that may be able to add a toolbar button, you can use the REG files in OPTION TWO in the tutorial below to turn it off and on. It's the same in Windows 7 and Vista.

link removed - use REG downloads in this tutorial instead. http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/61502-navigation-pane-turn-off.html

Hope this helps,
Shawn

 

[MrElectrifyer]

THANK YOU SO MUCH arlanda, I did some google searches with that official name and found this manual solution (first post):

Change shortcuts in Places Bar - Tips & Tweaks

Unfortunately, it involves group policy editor, which is not available in home versions of windows. FORTUNATELY, The second post is AUTOMATIC, use the software "Places Bar Editor", works in ALL versions of windows. Thanks again, really appreciate it.

 

[arlanda]

@MrElectrifyer: nice find!

@Brink: I've tried option two but it didn't work for me for some reason.

 

[Brink]

Arlanda,

I created some REG files in the tutorial on the first page of this thread specifically for Vista. Please try these to see how they work for for you instead.

 

[MrElectrifyer]

@arlanda
I noticed that when I saved the changes made by the "PlacesBar Eiditor" software, special shortcuts created (in the Explorer Places Bar) by a software installed on my computer (e.g. Cisco Network Magic) get removed from the explorer places bar. In order to avoid loosing specially wanted shortcuts, I did some digging in my Registry, the following is a manual and less buggy method of modifying the Places Bar:

Open Registry Editor and navigate to:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Software \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Policies \ comdlg32 \ Placesbar

You should see five "Place#" DWords, these are the default Places Bar Shortcuts, the # indicates the position in the PlacesBar (e.g. Place0 is the first shortcut in the Places Bar).

If you want to replace a shortcut, say Place0, simply delete the current Place0 DWord, create a new string named Place0, and set it's value to the folder directory you want it to represent. Yes, it's that easy.

@ADMIN Brink
How may I make this into a tutorial for future uses, we never know when someone will have the same issue, if you don't mind, please add it to your amazing vista tutorials list, thank you.

 

[Brink]

I shall look into it to see what I can do.

UPDATE:
Ok, I have one ine the works and should be out with it tommorrow night sometime.

 

[Brink]

Ok, tutorial all done. It works for Vista and Windows 7.

Common File Dialog Box - Customize Places Bar - Windows 7 Forums