I have to use Windows 10 when I’m teaching, and I’ve found that the new Quick Access option in File Explorer is confusing the hell out of my students.

Quick Access is like the old ‘Recent Places’ in Windows 7, except that in Windows 7, you control whether you see those recently accessed files and folders or not. In Windows 10, the ‘Quick Access’ function displays recent places by default, and they always appear at the top of the navigation tree. Essentially they are duplicating some of the files and folders shown under ‘This PC’, making my students wonder:

• Which version of a file or folder should they use?
• And if they do use the handy Quick Access area, why doesn’t it show ALL of their files and folders?
• Have those other files and folders been lost?

For beginners, this duplication only leads to confusion and makes understanding how to…