Navigation Pane in Vista Windows Explorer

How to Turn the Navigation Pane On or Off in Vista

information   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   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   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
Navigation_Pane.jpg




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.​
Organize.jpg






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.​
download

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.​
download

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


 

Attachments

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Last edited:
What I'd like to do is turn off the 'Folder' (Tree) pane:rolleyes:
 

My Computer

System One

  • CPU
    Intel Q6600 o/c 3GHz
    Motherboard
    GA-P35-DS3P
    Memory
    4 GHz
    Hard Drives
    4 x 250GB Hitachi
Hi AvatarOfTheShip,

Welcome to Vista Forums. :party:

Well, turning of the Navigation Pane would certainely turn off the Folder tree. ;)

If you do not want to turn the Navigation Pane off, then you could move the mouse pointer over the live between Favorite Links and Folders until it turns into a double pointed arrow. Just press and hold the left mouse button to drag the Folders pane line down to the bottom to hide it. This will leave just the Favorite Links part.

Hope this helps,
Shawn
 

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    NVIDIA GeForce 940MX
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    17.3" UHD IPS touch
    Screen Resolution
    3480 x 2160
    Hard Drives
    512 GB M.2 SSD
Hi Brink, thanks - and yes, you're right, that would sort of hit the spot. It's just that it seems as if Microsoft had a really nice idea to redesign Explorer, and right at the end someone's jumped up out of their seat and cried in a loud and piercing voice: "They'll never buy not having a tree view!" Soon the room was in panic and the tree view was clumsily and inelegantly welded and bolted back on. Does anyone else think this or am I alone wise in my generation?:zip:
 

My Computer

System One

  • CPU
    Intel Q6600 o/c 3GHz
    Motherboard
    GA-P35-DS3P
    Memory
    4 GHz
    Hard Drives
    4 x 250GB Hitachi
LOL, that sounds very plausible. :D

Well, at least we can adjust the size or hide the Favorite Links and Folders tree, or just turn the whole thing off.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • Operating System
    Windows 10 Pro 64-bit
    Manufacturer/Model
    Custom
    CPU
    Intel i7-8700K 5 GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Maximus XI Formula Z390
    Memory
    64 GB (4x16GB) G.SKILL TridentZ RGB DDR4 3600 MHz (F4-3600C18D-32GTZR)
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS ROG-STRIX-GTX1080TI-O11G-GAMING
    Sound Card
    Integrated Digital Audio (S/PDIF)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2 x Samsung Odyssey G7 27"
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    1TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2,
    4TB Samsung 990 PRO PRO M.2,
    8TB WD MyCloudEX2Ultra NAS
    PSU
    Seasonic Prime Titanium 850W
    Case
    Thermaltake Core P3
    Cooling
    Corsair Hydro H115i
    Keyboard
    Logitech wireless K800
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3
    Internet Speed
    1 Gb/s Download and 35 Mb/s Upload
    Other Info
    Logitech Z625 speaker system,
    Logitech BRIO 4K Pro webcam,
    HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M477fdn,
    APC SMART-UPS RT 1000 XL - SURT1000XLI,
    Galaxy S23 Plus phone
  • Operating System
    Windows 10 Pro
    Manufacturer/Model
    HP Envy Y0F94AV
    CPU
    i7-7500U @ 2.70 GHz
    Memory
    16 GB DDR4-2133
    Graphics card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce 940MX
    Sound Card
    Conexant ISST Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    17.3" UHD IPS touch
    Screen Resolution
    3480 x 2160
    Hard Drives
    512 GB M.2 SSD
Your welcome Vincent, and welcome to Vista Forums.

Shanw
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • Operating System
    Windows 10 Pro 64-bit
    Manufacturer/Model
    Custom
    CPU
    Intel i7-8700K 5 GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Maximus XI Formula Z390
    Memory
    64 GB (4x16GB) G.SKILL TridentZ RGB DDR4 3600 MHz (F4-3600C18D-32GTZR)
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS ROG-STRIX-GTX1080TI-O11G-GAMING
    Sound Card
    Integrated Digital Audio (S/PDIF)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2 x Samsung Odyssey G7 27"
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    1TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2,
    4TB Samsung 990 PRO PRO M.2,
    8TB WD MyCloudEX2Ultra NAS
    PSU
    Seasonic Prime Titanium 850W
    Case
    Thermaltake Core P3
    Cooling
    Corsair Hydro H115i
    Keyboard
    Logitech wireless K800
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3
    Internet Speed
    1 Gb/s Download and 35 Mb/s Upload
    Other Info
    Logitech Z625 speaker system,
    Logitech BRIO 4K Pro webcam,
    HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M477fdn,
    APC SMART-UPS RT 1000 XL - SURT1000XLI,
    Galaxy S23 Plus phone
  • Operating System
    Windows 10 Pro
    Manufacturer/Model
    HP Envy Y0F94AV
    CPU
    i7-7500U @ 2.70 GHz
    Memory
    16 GB DDR4-2133
    Graphics card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce 940MX
    Sound Card
    Conexant ISST Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    17.3" UHD IPS touch
    Screen Resolution
    3480 x 2160
    Hard Drives
    512 GB M.2 SSD
Is there any way to completely turn off or remove the Navigation Pane? I would be ok with removing it as an option from the registry or deleting system files, if I knew exactly which could be removed safely, as I never use it.

I've turned the annoying thing off numerous times, and it stays off if I navigate to the folder either through opening Computer or typing the path directly into the Start:Run prompt. But if I get to the folder from an application's "Show In Explorer" command, the Navigation Pane is automatically turned on again.

There's something else strange about that method as well that leads me to believe IE is being asked to perform the open or is at least involved. I was getting an error every time I opened a new IE window. I got the same error when opening folders in that method. After fixing the error in IE, both went away.
 

My Computer

Hi Siffy, and welcome to Vista Forums.

The Navigation Pane is tied to each folder template type in a Windows Explorer window. If you turn it off in say the All Items (details) template, it will still be on in the Pictures and Videos template. You just will need to repeat it once in each template type. For the "File -> Open" or "File -> Save As -> Browse" type windows, you will need to turn off the Navigation Pane in it, then close the window to have it not be on the next time you open it in each individual application.

Hope this helps,
Shawn
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • Operating System
    Windows 10 Pro 64-bit
    Manufacturer/Model
    Custom
    CPU
    Intel i7-8700K 5 GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Maximus XI Formula Z390
    Memory
    64 GB (4x16GB) G.SKILL TridentZ RGB DDR4 3600 MHz (F4-3600C18D-32GTZR)
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS ROG-STRIX-GTX1080TI-O11G-GAMING
    Sound Card
    Integrated Digital Audio (S/PDIF)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2 x Samsung Odyssey G7 27"
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    1TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2,
    4TB Samsung 990 PRO PRO M.2,
    8TB WD MyCloudEX2Ultra NAS
    PSU
    Seasonic Prime Titanium 850W
    Case
    Thermaltake Core P3
    Cooling
    Corsair Hydro H115i
    Keyboard
    Logitech wireless K800
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3
    Internet Speed
    1 Gb/s Download and 35 Mb/s Upload
    Other Info
    Logitech Z625 speaker system,
    Logitech BRIO 4K Pro webcam,
    HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M477fdn,
    APC SMART-UPS RT 1000 XL - SURT1000XLI,
    Galaxy S23 Plus phone
  • Operating System
    Windows 10 Pro
    Manufacturer/Model
    HP Envy Y0F94AV
    CPU
    i7-7500U @ 2.70 GHz
    Memory
    16 GB DDR4-2133
    Graphics card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce 940MX
    Sound Card
    Conexant ISST Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    17.3" UHD IPS touch
    Screen Resolution
    3480 x 2160
    Hard Drives
    512 GB M.2 SSD
Hi Siffy, and welcome to Vista Forums.

The Navigation Pane is tied to each folder template type in a Windows Explorer window. If you turn it off in say the All Items (details) template, it will still be on in the Pictures and Videos template. You just will need to repeat it once in each template type. For the "File -> Open" or "File -> Save As -> Browse" type windows, you will need to turn off the Navigation Pane in it, then close the window to have it not be on the next time you open it in each individual application.

Hope this helps,
Shawn

Thank you for the welcome. Well, I tried turning off auto template discovery to see if that would help, by following your tutorial through step 20.
http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/70819-windows-explorer-folder-view-settings.html
That didn't make the pane go away either. I can open the folder, turn off the pane, close the folder, then open it again and the pane will reappear by itself. Is there no way to completely remove the Navigation Pane and/or Templates? I really have no use for either feature, as I find both more of a hindrance than helpful.
 

My Computer

Siffy,

There is no way to completely remove the Navigation Pane the way you are wanting. The only option is turning it on or off.

Do all of Method Two (download or manual) in that Folder Views tutorial link. Afterwards, turn off the Navigation Pane for that Windows Explorer window and close it. It should remain turned off when you open it next time.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • Operating System
    Windows 10 Pro 64-bit
    Manufacturer/Model
    Custom
    CPU
    Intel i7-8700K 5 GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Maximus XI Formula Z390
    Memory
    64 GB (4x16GB) G.SKILL TridentZ RGB DDR4 3600 MHz (F4-3600C18D-32GTZR)
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS ROG-STRIX-GTX1080TI-O11G-GAMING
    Sound Card
    Integrated Digital Audio (S/PDIF)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2 x Samsung Odyssey G7 27"
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    1TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2,
    4TB Samsung 990 PRO PRO M.2,
    8TB WD MyCloudEX2Ultra NAS
    PSU
    Seasonic Prime Titanium 850W
    Case
    Thermaltake Core P3
    Cooling
    Corsair Hydro H115i
    Keyboard
    Logitech wireless K800
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3
    Internet Speed
    1 Gb/s Download and 35 Mb/s Upload
    Other Info
    Logitech Z625 speaker system,
    Logitech BRIO 4K Pro webcam,
    HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M477fdn,
    APC SMART-UPS RT 1000 XL - SURT1000XLI,
    Galaxy S23 Plus phone
  • Operating System
    Windows 10 Pro
    Manufacturer/Model
    HP Envy Y0F94AV
    CPU
    i7-7500U @ 2.70 GHz
    Memory
    16 GB DDR4-2133
    Graphics card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce 940MX
    Sound Card
    Conexant ISST Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    17.3" UHD IPS touch
    Screen Resolution
    3480 x 2160
    Hard Drives
    512 GB M.2 SSD
Siffy,

There is no way to completely remove the Navigation Pane the way you are wanting. The only option is turning it on or off.

Do all of Method Two (download or manual) in that Folder Views tutorial link. Afterwards, turn off the Navigation Pane for that Windows Explorer window and close it. It should remain turned off when you open it next time.

Just noticed I wasn't specific. Method 2 is what I have already done. I skipped the part "Increase Folder View Cache Memory" but completed the rest. The Nav Pane still turns itself back on.
 

My Computer

Siffy,

That's strange. I must admit that I'm not sure why it keeps turning on for you in that same Windows Explorer folder template type if you have turned it off in the same type of window and closed it. I do not seem to be having a problem with it staying off or on as selected. Is it just for that particular folder, or all of them?

In the mean time, you might also run a sfc /scannow command to see if it can find and fix any bad system files that may be contributing to this.

http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/66978-system-files-sfc-command.html
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • Operating System
    Windows 10 Pro 64-bit
    Manufacturer/Model
    Custom
    CPU
    Intel i7-8700K 5 GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Maximus XI Formula Z390
    Memory
    64 GB (4x16GB) G.SKILL TridentZ RGB DDR4 3600 MHz (F4-3600C18D-32GTZR)
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS ROG-STRIX-GTX1080TI-O11G-GAMING
    Sound Card
    Integrated Digital Audio (S/PDIF)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2 x Samsung Odyssey G7 27"
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    1TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2,
    4TB Samsung 990 PRO PRO M.2,
    8TB WD MyCloudEX2Ultra NAS
    PSU
    Seasonic Prime Titanium 850W
    Case
    Thermaltake Core P3
    Cooling
    Corsair Hydro H115i
    Keyboard
    Logitech wireless K800
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3
    Internet Speed
    1 Gb/s Download and 35 Mb/s Upload
    Other Info
    Logitech Z625 speaker system,
    Logitech BRIO 4K Pro webcam,
    HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M477fdn,
    APC SMART-UPS RT 1000 XL - SURT1000XLI,
    Galaxy S23 Plus phone
  • Operating System
    Windows 10 Pro
    Manufacturer/Model
    HP Envy Y0F94AV
    CPU
    i7-7500U @ 2.70 GHz
    Memory
    16 GB DDR4-2133
    Graphics card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce 940MX
    Sound Card
    Conexant ISST Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    17.3" UHD IPS touch
    Screen Resolution
    3480 x 2160
    Hard Drives
    512 GB M.2 SSD
I have tried all of this and it STILL doesn't work the way I want it to.
It ONLY works if you use EXPLORE rather than open.

And the tree is now gone. (navigation pane...) Wrong result!
What I want is to click pen a folder on my desktop, then click a subfolder
open and have it open in a seperate window.
Is that too much to ask? XP can do this... why can't Vista?

Just clicking on a folder on my desktop forces the new sub-folder to
re-use the same window again not starting in a new, seperate one like
I need it to. Anyone have ANY suggestions?

TIA
 

My Computer

My Computers

System One System Two

  • Operating System
    Windows 10 Pro 64-bit
    Manufacturer/Model
    Custom
    CPU
    Intel i7-8700K 5 GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Maximus XI Formula Z390
    Memory
    64 GB (4x16GB) G.SKILL TridentZ RGB DDR4 3600 MHz (F4-3600C18D-32GTZR)
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS ROG-STRIX-GTX1080TI-O11G-GAMING
    Sound Card
    Integrated Digital Audio (S/PDIF)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2 x Samsung Odyssey G7 27"
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    1TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2,
    4TB Samsung 990 PRO PRO M.2,
    8TB WD MyCloudEX2Ultra NAS
    PSU
    Seasonic Prime Titanium 850W
    Case
    Thermaltake Core P3
    Cooling
    Corsair Hydro H115i
    Keyboard
    Logitech wireless K800
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3
    Internet Speed
    1 Gb/s Download and 35 Mb/s Upload
    Other Info
    Logitech Z625 speaker system,
    Logitech BRIO 4K Pro webcam,
    HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M477fdn,
    APC SMART-UPS RT 1000 XL - SURT1000XLI,
    Galaxy S23 Plus phone
  • Operating System
    Windows 10 Pro
    Manufacturer/Model
    HP Envy Y0F94AV
    CPU
    i7-7500U @ 2.70 GHz
    Memory
    16 GB DDR4-2133
    Graphics card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce 940MX
    Sound Card
    Conexant ISST Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    17.3" UHD IPS touch
    Screen Resolution
    3480 x 2160
    Hard Drives
    512 GB M.2 SSD
Thanks but no that doesn't work. There is no option for "open in another window" when you right click on a sub-folder icon.

I got this resolved by implementing a number of tweaks I found on other sites.
It seems like very few Vista users know how to resolve this and it is quite
a common problem.
 

My Computer

AF4K,

Can you PM me the links to the tweaks you used to resolve this. I would be happy to see what I can do to write something up to help others with this same problem.

Thank you,
Shawn
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • Operating System
    Windows 10 Pro 64-bit
    Manufacturer/Model
    Custom
    CPU
    Intel i7-8700K 5 GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Maximus XI Formula Z390
    Memory
    64 GB (4x16GB) G.SKILL TridentZ RGB DDR4 3600 MHz (F4-3600C18D-32GTZR)
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS ROG-STRIX-GTX1080TI-O11G-GAMING
    Sound Card
    Integrated Digital Audio (S/PDIF)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2 x Samsung Odyssey G7 27"
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    1TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2,
    4TB Samsung 990 PRO PRO M.2,
    8TB WD MyCloudEX2Ultra NAS
    PSU
    Seasonic Prime Titanium 850W
    Case
    Thermaltake Core P3
    Cooling
    Corsair Hydro H115i
    Keyboard
    Logitech wireless K800
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3
    Internet Speed
    1 Gb/s Download and 35 Mb/s Upload
    Other Info
    Logitech Z625 speaker system,
    Logitech BRIO 4K Pro webcam,
    HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M477fdn,
    APC SMART-UPS RT 1000 XL - SURT1000XLI,
    Galaxy S23 Plus phone
  • Operating System
    Windows 10 Pro
    Manufacturer/Model
    HP Envy Y0F94AV
    CPU
    i7-7500U @ 2.70 GHz
    Memory
    16 GB DDR4-2133
    Graphics card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce 940MX
    Sound Card
    Conexant ISST Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    17.3" UHD IPS touch
    Screen Resolution
    3480 x 2160
    Hard Drives
    512 GB M.2 SSD
Hi Brink,

I would like to know how to put the navigation pane over the menu bar. Actually I got several 3rd party application that are menu bars in explorer, but I want the navigation pane to go to the top of the window. Something like the image

This:

post-74758-1249000045_thumb.jpg


To look like this:

post-74758-1252433249_thumb.jpg



In the image the black pane with tumbenails is an app that works like a menu bar.

Since I'm using WindowsBlinds for skinning vista, any change in the aero.msstyles with a HEX editor is not applied, but any change in the shellstyle.dll is efective. If the changes are in the regitry that could work to.

Thanks for your help!!!!
 

My Computer

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