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Drives and folders appearing multiple times in File Explorer
Scenario
Let me guess, you opened up File Explorer and noticed a drive was on the navigation panel more than once.
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Now, before you start thinking your system has a virus or on the verge of crashing, this is not the case.
This is actually a feature designed for Windows. When you connect a drive, Windows will display it under "This PC" while also displaying the drive on its own for "easier and quicker" access.
How to solve
If you're like me, you like having all drives under "This PC" to keep the clutter under control on the Navigation Panel. This solution is only a few steps and only takes a couple of minutes, let's begin.
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Step 1.) Open Registry Editor
To open this program, press the keys together: this will open the
'RUN' search box, once opened type "REGEDIT" then search.
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Step 2.) Find the Registry key
Now we will venture into the Registry Editor to find the unwanted key that is causing the duplicate drives.
It will be much easier to search it but I will include the file path as well
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Filepath: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Desktop\NameSpace\DelegateFolders
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Once you have made it to DelgateFolders, you will need to find a specific key:
{F5FB2C77-0E2F-4A16-A381-3E560C68BC83}
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Now double-check the key to ensure you have found the correct one before progressing any further, otherwise modifying the wrong key could cause significant damage to the system.
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Step 3.) Removing the Unwanted key
This is the easy part, right-click the key and delete.
That's it, the drive will no longer appear twice, no system damage, restart, nothing. Contact me with any questions or concerns and I will be happy to assist you further
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