Can't Unpin folder from Windows Explorer TaskBar Jumpli

delaroche · 07 Jan 2010

waw, it did actually work! thank you guys! twice in a row and that's it.
i am wondering now if the problem is gone forever or if i have to do it again. let's see...

one thing for sure: it is definitely a windows 7 bug.

cheers

Lestrad · 01 Feb 2012

Thanks, Greg. I had the same problem with my NAS and your solution worked the first time.

SpacemanSpiff · 10 Jul 2012

Sorry to "resurrect" this thread (hehe ... sorry), but I only recently came across this same issue on my work laptop and this thread, specifically GregInChrist's (GIC's) fix, did it for me, EXCEPT (so I am adding this for the benefit of others in the future) ...

In my situation:
A. I had the SAME network folder somehow pinned 5 times (but this may apply to anyone with multiple unpins to do)
B. I only needed to uncheck "Store and display recently opened items in the Start menu and the taskbar" (i.e., didn't have to mess with the 1st option at all)
C. I didn't have the residual issue requiring GIC's steps 8 & 9
D. MY MAIN CAVEAT: Each iteration of the above steps only allowed me to unpin ONE instance at a time. After each unpin, it went back to being stubborn like before.

So, for me, I had to uncheck, apply, unpin, recheck, apply, uncheck, apply, unpin, etc. until I had unpinned all instances and ended with the final recheck of the box.

Also, I am surprised that 1.5 years later, on Win7 Enterprise SP1, we are still seeing this. But maybe I shouldn't be so surprised.

SpacemanSpiff · 06 Feb 2015

I got this problem again (badly), searched Google, and this thread showed at the top (again), but none of the solutions here had reached the non-tedious, low level, and 100% success combo I was looking for (e.g., I had been thoroughly searching the registry to kill these things).

Then I finally found this below. It's exactly what I was looking for, and perhaps you are, too.

Jump Lists - Reset and Clear All Items

NOTE: You can't cherry-pick the bad pinned items out, but this will clear all of your pinned items from Windows Explorer ONLY, so none of your pins for other apps are at risk (which I was originally afraid might happen with the checkboxes method). And it should work every time.

The summary is:

all of the pins are stored here (in non-readable files; one for each app on the taskbar):
Code:
```
%APPDATA%\Microsoft\Windows\Recent\AutomaticDestinations\
```
at least for me, the file name corresponding to Windows Explorer pins was the same as given on the linked page (maybe same for everyone?):
Code:
```
1B4DD67F29CB1962.AUTOMATICDESTINATIONS-MS
```
NOTE: there's a method at the link to be more sure about which file (using "find" command)
just move this file somewhere else (in case you want to move it back)
all the pins, including the bad ones, are now gone from Explorer on the taskbar ... A CLEAN SLATE!
when you know you don't want it anymore, delete the file from wherever you moved it to (if not immediately)

I anticipate this will keep happening so it's good to have this method handy to quickly clear the Explorer pins and it should work 100% of the time.

singalrohit · 13 Aug 2015

Delete the files in the folder:
C:\Users\UserName\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Recent\AutomaticDestinations

Can't Unpin folder from Windows Explorer TaskBar Jumpli

the low-level solution