Explorer - Navigation Pane - Expand to Current Folder not working

Eric Puentes 5 Reputation points
2025-09-29T09:47:14.8266667+00:00

I don't know exactly when this changed. I have the setting 'Expand to Current Folder' checked. When I click on some of the pinned folders the Explorer Navigation pane the location does not expand to the target folder. But some of them do expand to current folder.

Below is a screenshot of the folders that do not expand, shown in red. There are several posts from 2023 that reference this but for me the issue appeared more recently. And I don't see any mention of only some of the folders don't expand. All the System shortcuts aren't expanding and some of ones I pinned don't expand.

Any clues to where to look to maybe solve this?

I'm on Windows 11, clearly, and updated from Windows 10 in June 2025. Version: 24H2. System is Asus with a Core i7-12700k.

Windows for home | Windows 11 | Files, folders, and storage
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  1. Dale M 0 Reputation points
    2026-10-09T17:38:52.3133333+00:00

    Reproducible finding and workaround

    I discovered that the presence of a subfolder inside the pinned folder determines whether the problem occurs.

    1. With no subfolders inside, opening it from the taskbar's Pinned list leaves the navigation pane at Home.
    2. Creating an empty subfolder inside the folder makes the pinned entry work correctly.
    3. Renaming that subfolder has no effect; the pinned entry continues to work.
    4. Removing the subfolder causes the original problem to return.
    5. Re-creating a subfolder restores the correct behavior.

    The folder contains thousands of files, but no subfolders in its normal state.

    This behavior is repeatable. The subfolder workaround is effective, but an empty folder should not be necessary to make the navigation pane behave correctly.

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  2. TaoLi 115K Reputation points Independent Advisor
    2025-09-29T12:54:01.24+00:00

    Hello, welcome to the Microsoft Q&A forum.

    Your image upload failed. I need a screenshot to see the specific situation.

    This may be caused by system file corruption. Search for CMD in the search box, right-click and run as administrator, and enter the command to repair system components:

    DISM /Online /Cleanup-image /Checkhealth

    DISM /Online /Cleanup-image /Scanhealth

    DISM /Online /Cleanup-image /Restorehealth

    sfc /scannow

    Then open Task Manager, locate and restart Windows Explorer to see if this resolves the issue.

    These are my thoughts and suggestions. I hope they are helpful.

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