How to expand folders tree on left side of Explorer

Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast

  1. Posts : 61
    Windows 7 Premium
       #1

    How to expand folders tree on left side of Explorer


    I have the usual 2 panes when opening Explorer. On the right side of course are all the folders under C: expanded so as to view them. However, on the left side pane, my C: drive folders aren't expanded, it just show C:drive and I have to click on that C:drive to expand the folders each time. How can I open Explorer and have that left side pane with my C:drive already expanded in tree form and not having to click C: to expand it each time?
      My Computer


  2. Posts : 2
    Windows Professional x64
       #2

    Alt (to show the menu bar) --> Tools --> Folder options. In the "Navigation Pane" section, check "Show all folders" and/or "Automatically expand to current folder." Regards
      My Computer


  3. Posts : 61
    Windows 7 Premium
    Thread Starter
       #3

    Well...whereas before explorers right side pane had my C:Folder tree expanded, now after doing what you suggested it just shows Library and a few icons on that right side, and the C:drive on the left side still isn't expanded showing all the sub folders in C:

    Wait a sec, it does that because I'm clicking on the tray icon of Explorer. I have a separate desktop shortcut for the C: drive. I'll delete that tray icon of Explorer and drag my desktop icon of C: down to my tray and see if that works.

    OK. I'm back to how it was before but now my dragged down to the tray desktop shortcut of C: shows Libraries on the right side, not an expanded C: drive of folders like when I click on my desktop shortcut of C:.

    That desktop shortcut when clicked shows both panes showing folders, only the left side still didn't expand and when I try and drag the C: shortcut icon to the tray, and click on it, it shows the right pane as Libraries, not expanded folders like before. I'm not sure why that is.
      My Computer


  4. Posts : 25,847
    Windows 10 Pro. 64/ version 1709 Windows 7 Pro/64
       #4

    The only thing I can think of is this.

    Open Windows Explore go to
    Organize and select Layout and check what option you want.
    I know of nothing else that can be done.
      My Computer


  5. Posts : 61
    Windows 7 Premium
    Thread Starter
       #5

    Attachment 1: What it looks like when I click on my desktop made shortcut of C:drive

    Attachment 2: What it looks like when I drag my desktop icon of C:drive to the tray and click on it.
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails How to expand folders tree on left side of Explorer-1111.jpg   How to expand folders tree on left side of Explorer-2222.jpg  
      My Computer


  6. Posts : 10,485
    W7 Pro SP1 64bit
       #6

    Change the target of the shortcut on the task bar to this:
    Code:
    %windir%\explorer.exe /select, C:\Temp
    To change the target of that pinned shortcut...
    ...right click on the shortcut:

    How to expand folders tree on left side of Explorer-e1.png


    Then right click on Window Explorer and select Properties from the context menu:
    (What you see might be different since you put a different shortcut there.)
    How to expand folders tree on left side of Explorer-e2.png


    Change the target:

    How to expand folders tree on left side of Explorer-e3.png


    If you Folder Options are set like this:

    How to expand folders tree on left side of Explorer-e4.png


    Then using that newly changed pinned shortcut should show you this:

    How to expand folders tree on left side of Explorer-e5.png
      My Computer


  7. Posts : 61
    Windows 7 Premium
    Thread Starter
       #7

    This is getting confusing. I started out wanting the left side pane expanded showing folders. So I follow the first suggestion reply.
    Now when I try and make a tray icon of C:, the right side just shows Libraries! WTF! Now I can't even get it back the way it was before trying to tweak the left side pane to show folders expanded. At this point I just want to get it the hell the way it was before I clicked on "show all folders". From there on, no matter how I set the tray to open C: the right side pane opens up as Libraries! Why the hell is it doing that? Now I can't even get the tray icon of C: to show expanded folders on the right side of the explorer window (from the tray icon) like it was before!
    It freaking now insists on showing Libraries on the right side pane. VEry frustrating. I wish I'd never attempted tweaking the left side pane to show expanded C: folders in the first place. I now just want to freaking get the right side pane not to open up with Libraries! Thats useless to me...that is, the tray icon of C:drive opening up with freaking Libraries instead of freaking C: folders in that right side explorer pane!!! (like it was before I starting trying to tweak things a little).

    Before all this hassle, I simply dragged my C: folder desktop shortcut icon down to the taskbar tray and it opened showing the right side pane with my C: folders, not freaking Libraries icons only,as its doing now. I can't see why I now have to edit my target and all that crap.
      My Computer


  8. Posts : 10,485
    W7 Pro SP1 64bit
       #8

    Sorry that this is frustrating.

    The default target of the Explorer shortcut that is pinned to the task bar looks like this:

    How to expand folders tree on left side of Explorer-e6.png

    You can use the steps mentioned in my previous post to change the target.
      My Computer


  9. Posts : 61
    Windows 7 Premium
    Thread Starter
       #9

    I'm still trying and thanks. LOL, by the way, clicking "show all folders" did the trick for explorer showing the left side expanded. In other words...mission accomplished in that regard, which was my opening question.

    I'm now trying to just get the tray icon to open up with the right side of the Explorer window showing as it did before, with not just Libraries showing there, but rather my C: folders ! I'll keep working on it. Still unsure why it insists on that right pane showing just Library icons, when before all this, I simply dragged my desktop icon of C:drive to the tray and Explorer window opened fine showing my C: folder on the right side pane. By the way, my desktop icon target just shows C: as the target, I'll change the target to what you suggested and see if that does the trick, but it was working fine before when I dragged my desktop icon to the tray. I can't understand why Windows is making it so hard all of a sudden.


    Thanks to all. I'm still working on it...will report back here if and when I figure it all out.
      My Computer


  10. Posts : 10,485
    W7 Pro SP1 64bit
       #10

    I'll try to explain what is happening.

    If you just open Explorer in W7, it selects Libraries in the left (Navigation) pane.

    When you made a shortcut (with a target of C:\) on your desktop, you were telling Explorer show you the C drive. You cannot pin a shortcut like that to the task bar. When you removed the default pinned shortcut and drug your desktop shortcut to the task bar, Windows changed the target to be an EXE.

    There are a few drawbacks to selecting "show all folders"... for one, it can clutter up the Nav pane. Please consider setting the Folder Options as I showed them.

    Try changing the target of your pinned shortcut to:
    Code:
    %windir%\explorer.exe C:\
    See if that is what you want.
      My Computer


 
Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast

  Related Discussions
Our Sites
Site Links
About Us
Windows 7 Forums is an independent web site and has not been authorized, sponsored, or otherwise approved by Microsoft Corporation. "Windows 7" and related materials are trademarks of Microsoft Corp.

© Designer Media Ltd
All times are GMT -5. The time now is 23:57.
Find Us