How to Hide or Show Libraries in Navigation Pane in Windows 10  

I regret to report that I cannot remove the Libraries folder from the Navigation Pane in Windows 10 "Fall Creators Update" (64bit) - Version 1709 (OS Build 16299.19), using any of the 4 methods on the first page of this thread. Even the registry edit...

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\CLSID\{031E4825-7B94-4dc3-B131-E946B44C8DD5} - System.IsPinnedToNameSpaceTree

...didn't work. It was, in fact, already set to zero.

Also, in Explorer / View / Options / Change Folder and Search Options / View / Advanced settings / Navigation pane:

If I turn off "Show all folders" and turn off "Show libraries", then the Libraries are hidden, but so are items that I want.
If I turn on "Show all folders", I always get Libraries shown, irrespective of the state of the "Show Libraries" check box.



I suppose I can live with it, but I do like a clean looking pane.

Brink said:

Hello Zaphod, :)

Yeah, I'm afraid that when you have "Show all folders" turned on, Libraries will show as well.

What did you want to still show when you had "Show all folders" turned on? Maybe we can have those items show with "Show all folders" turned off so Libraries will no longer show.

Hi Brink, :)

Thanks for your reply. I guess I just want Network and any folders that are actually located on the Desktop. So I don't want (don't use) Libraries or Homegroup. I don't really need Control Panel because that's easy to get to from the Start button. Also don't want/need Recycle Bin there.

[ I have four Windows 10 PCs and an XP PC all on my local LAN, with shared folders so I can move stuff around and Teamviewer on each so I can configure them all from the main PC, which is an old, big, XP PC! Three of the four Windows 10 PCs are dual-booting with XP. The newest one - a laptop - is Windows 10 only (no drivers for XP ) ]

On the Windows 10 machines, I have "Classic Shell" installed so my desktop looks very much like XP and I also have "Folder Options X" installed to get rid of the "Full Row Select" problem. I also tweaked the colours to have a light grey Task Bar with a black font - very XP-ish!

If there's anything you can do/suggest to achieve the Navigation pane changes, it would be great!

- Zaphod (not my real name, BTW )

Brink said:

Hmm, I'm not aware of a way to have folders on the desktop show in the navigation pane other than having "Show all folders" turned on.

OK. It's not too cluttered the way I have it - OneDrive, Libraries, Homegroup, and Control Panel are all collapsed, so aren't obtrusive.

It's a pity that the way Explorer is coded, when "Show All Folders" is on, the registry setting to not show Libraries is ignored. If I was in charge of Windows development, I'd call that either a bad design or sloppy programming.

Brink said:

I'd prefer to have a setting UI for this to check or uncheck what you want to see in the navigation pane.

I totally agree. Microsoft seem to have lost the plot when it comes to giving long-time users what they want. They seem more interested in adding new features that only a minority want, advertise it as if it's the best thing since sliced bread, but not go back and fix the things that have been broken for years - like the "Full Row Select" problem and the "Folder Jumping" problem (goo.gl/7CDypz).

Also this one does not work when Show all folders is marked, how to hide Libraries in NavPane?