I can't delete File Explorer Network computer outdated shared folders

I made several different drive folders shared, which had their names auto-generated for the network, and since removing the drives, the shortcuts on my laptop don't work and apparently can't be deleted.

Imgur: The magic of the Internet

When I try to open them, I get an error that it can't connect. If I right-click on them, there's nothing in the menu about deleting them.

If I plug the old drive back in and re-set up the share on the other computer, it creates a duplicate folder with the number 2 appended.

If I check another laptop, the outdated shortcuts are gone. It's like the base computer and my kitchen laptop are stuck in some sort of snag with each other causing bizarre behavior.

Pressing del on the keyboard. What happens?

PiKo said:

Pressing del on the keyboard. What happens?

Nothing.

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dalchina said:

It's not 100% clear from your screenshot, but it seems the shortcuts are in Frequent Places or Quick Access.

Try
Reset and Clear Recent Items and Frequent Places in Windows 10

The appropriate and most helpful way to provide screenshots is to use forum features thus:

- which is itself and example of that.

I went through the link and cleared the Recent folders specified but that didn't change anything. They don't seem to be related. I've already disabled Recents in Windows anywhere I could find anyway because I hate that crap showing up randomly everywhere.



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Try3 said:

You ought to be able to remove those mapped network drives using Options 4 or 5 of
Map network drive - TenForumsTutorials


Best of luck,
Denis

They're not mapped network drives.

They were created by enabling File & Print sharing on the base computer, then right-clicking a folder and then Properties and then Sharing and then allowing for that computer's user. Then from any other Windows 10 computers I click into Explorer -> Network and the shortcuts are there. They updated/deleted on an older secondary laptop I inherited but not my main laptop.

dalchina said:

Have a look in
%AppData%\Microsoft\Windows\Network Shortcuts

- do you see the offending shortcuts there?

The folder is empty.

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Try3 said:

OK, I think I understand now.
On the computer on which you took that screenshot, you had shared some folders that no longer exist because their drives no longer exist and you now want to stop them appearing in the File explorer, Network section for the computer in question.
This has been asked in the forum before but I have not kept any links to the threads so you might try searching the forum.

Does deleting their entries in
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\LanmanServer\Shares
remove them?

There was only one there; I deleted it, but that didn't change anything in Explorer > Network > base computer. The shortcut for that same-named entry is still there, still fails to connect, and still has no apparent way to be removed.

Note that for me to even see the shared folders, I have to type in the username and password of the base computer. As far as I know, this is the most default typical way of viewing shared folders on another Windows computer. I actually prefer it this way, since I lock the base computer and I don't want anyone on the network to just view the shares.

Try3 said:

If not then I suggest you read & try this tutorial's Option 10 then, if necessary, read the posts in the tutorial thread and then, if still necessary, post your question in the tutorial thread.
Share Files and Folders - TenForumsTutorials

OK deleting the share names from compmgmt also removed them from the Network folder for the base computer.

However, since that computer can have a lot of drives connected/disconnected that can have one or more folders I want shared for some period of time (at least until I better organize my data), if this method is needed to clean up the Network shortcuts, it's going to be a pain that I'm not gonna want to have to do a lot.

From what I remember, Windows would just automatically clean things up sensibly. I don't know what's changed. All of my Windows computers are on version 10. I'll be upgrading my main laptop to 11 soon, but since the problem seems to be happening on the base sharing computer, I don't know what a sensible automated solution is supposed to be. As far as I'm concerned it's supposed to handle this intelligently, did before, but doesn't now for some mysterious reason. Thoughts?

Try3 said:

And please explain the situation succinctly e.g. I had shared some folders that no longer exist because their drives no longer exist and I now want to stop them appearing in the File explorer, Network section for the computer in question.


Denis

I don't know how to explain it better. I plug in a drive with a top-level folder named the same as the drive, right-click the folder, click Properties, click Share, then click to share it in the most basic obvious typical way you can imagine (it's all auto-selected to use the "Owner" or user I'm already logged into, and there's only one anyway), and then it just creates the share like \\computer-name\share-name automatically which then shows up in the other computers' Network folder for the sharing computer. It's generally worked sensibly until recently after I did some re-organizing. I don't know what's triggering the problem, and I hope it won't keep doing it because I've still got a lot of organizing to go.