The Quick access feature in Windows 10 provides a convenient way to access folders that you frequently use by pinning them. In some situations, the pinned shortcuts in Quick access get stuck and unable to remove or unpin. Quick access sometimes lose track of a target folder if it’s moved to another directory, or deleted; with the Pinned item still pointing to the old location.
If an item in Quick access is stuck, here are some methods using which you can unpin or remove the problematic item.
Option 1: Create a new folder in the old location, and then Unpin it
Here is a classic case where Quick access failed to update the Pinned item’s target (and showing “Location is not available” error), after the original folder was moved to a different drive.
You could open File Explorer and remove the pinned item by right-clicking and choosing Unpin from Quick access or use Remove from Quick access (for frequent places that’s added automatically).
But what if the options don’t work? Simply create a folder in the same location where the pinned item expects the folder to be. The open File Explorer and unpin or remove the item.
Option 2: Reset the Quick Access Recent Items
This option applies if a "recent" folder has stuck (not the Pinned folder). Right-click the Quick Access star icon, click Options, and click Clear.
This clears the Recent folders list in Quick Access, without affecting the custom Pinned items.
Option 3: Multi-Select Items and Unpin them
Click the Quick access button (the blue star) at the top. In the right pane or the folder view, select the Pinned item that’s stuck, press CTRL and select another item that you want to Unpin. See also Fix Cannot Unpin FTP Links From Quick Access In Windows 10?
Option 4: Reset or Clear the Quick access Shortcuts
There are situations where nothing would work and invalid pinned shortcut in Quick access get stuck and not removable. The Quick access pinned and frequent items data are kept in a file named f01b4d95cf55d32a.automaticDestinations-ms in the following folder:
Type the above path in File Explorer address bar, and delete this file:
f01b4d95cf55d32a.automaticDestinations-ms
Or simply copy the following command and paste in Run dialog (WinKey + R) to delete the file:
cmd.exe /c del "%AppData%\Microsoft\Windows\Recent\AutomaticDestinations\f01b4d95cf55d32a.automaticDestinations-ms"
This clears the custom pinned and frequent items listing in Quick access. Windows regenerates this file immediately the next time you open File Explorer, listing the default ones.
Note: You don’t need to clear all the *.automaticDestinations-ms files in that folder as some websites suggest.
The Quick access feature in Windows 10 provides a convenient way to access folders that you frequently use by pinning them. In some situations, the pinned shortcuts in Quick access get stuck and unable to remove or unpin. Quick access sometimes lose track of a target folder if it’s moved to another directory, or deleted; with the Pinned item still pointing to the old location.
If an item in Quick access is stuck, here are some methods using which you can unpin or remove the problematic item.
Option 1: Create a new folder in the old location, and then Unpin it
Here is a classic case where Quick access failed to update the Pinned item’s target (and showing “Location is not available” error), after the original folder was moved to a different drive.
https://i1.wp.com/www.winhelponline.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/q1-16/w10-quickaccess-1.png
You could open File Explorer and remove the pinned item by right-clicking and choosing Unpin from Quick access or use Remove from Quick access (for frequent places that’s added automatically).
But what if the options don’t work? Simply create a folder in the same location where the pinned item expects the folder to be. The open File Explorer and unpin or remove the item.
Option 2: Reset the Quick Access Recent Items
This option applies if a "recent" folder has stuck (not the Pinned folder). Right-click the Quick Access star icon, click Options, and click Clear.
https://i1.wp.com/www.winhelponline.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/q1-16/w10-quickaccess-3.png
This clears the Recent folders list in Quick Access, without affecting the custom Pinned items.
Option 3: Multi-Select Items and Unpin them
Click the Quick access button (the blue star) at the top. In the right pane or the folder view, select the Pinned item that’s stuck, press CTRL and select another item that you want to Unpin. See also Fix Cannot Unpin FTP Links From Quick Access In Windows 10?
Option 4: Reset or Clear the Quick access Shortcuts
There are situations where nothing would work and invalid pinned shortcut in Quick access get stuck and not removable. The Quick access pinned and frequent items data are kept in a file named f01b4d95cf55d32a.automaticDestinations-ms in the following folder:
https://i1.wp.com/www.winhelponline.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/q1-16/w10-quickaccess-2.png
Type the above path in File Explorer address bar, and delete this file:
Or simply copy the following command and paste in Run dialog (WinKey + R) to delete the file:
This clears the custom pinned and frequent items listing in Quick access. Windows regenerates this file immediately the next time you open File Explorer, listing the default ones.
Note: You don’t need to clear all the *.automaticDestinations-ms files in that folder as some websites suggest.