Window Explorer Toolbar - Remove

How to Remove Windows Explorer Toolbar in Windows 7​

   Information

In windows 7 Microsoft implemented a new toolbar in Windows Explorer. It has options like: Organize, Share with, Burn, New Folder. Do you want to get rid of this for good? This is how.

   Note

If you do this you will not be able to access any of the features that are on this bar, that includes changing which panes are up. You can however use these tutorials registry edits to turn them on or off:

• Navigation pane turn on or off
• Details pane turn on or off
• Preview pane turn on or off

To use custom themes after removing the explorer toolbar, you will have to extract the file to:

C:\Windows\Resources\Themes\"Custom Theme"\Shell\NormalColor

OPTION ONE

To Remove Windows Explorer Toolbar

1. Click on the Download button below to download the Remove Explorer Bar.zip file.

Download


2. Disable Aero.

1. Right click on the Desktop, select "Personalize"
2. Select "Windows Classic" theme:
   
   
   

3. Download and install "Add_Take_Ownership.reg".

1. Extract: "Add_Take_Ownership.reg"
2. Run: "Add_Take_Ownership.reg"
3. If prompted by User Access Control, then select "Yes".
4. "Registry Editor" will ask something like:
   
   
   
5. Select "Yes"
6. "Registry Editor" will say something like:
   
   
   
7. Select "OK"

4. Determine whether your operating system is 64 bit or 32 bit.

1. Right Click on "Computer", select "Properties"
2. Look next to "System type:", it will say one of these: "64-bit Operating System" or "32-bit Operating System":
   
   
   

5. Taking control of necessary files.

   Warning

You MUST back up the following files if you ever wish to revert back. One way you might backup a file is by copying the original file and then renaming the copy "shellstyle - Original.dll" or "shellstyle - Backup.dll". Make sure you do a backup file for each file that you are going to change.

1. Navigate to the folder:

   C:\Windows\Resources\Themes\Aero\Shell\NormalColor

2. Right click on the file: "shellstyle.dll", select "Take Ownership":
   
   
   
3. If prompted by User Access Control, then select "Yes".
4. The following Steps 5-7 are for "64-bit Operating System" only.
5. Navigate to the folder: "C:\Windows\SysWOW64"
6. Right click on the file: "shellstyle.dll", select "Take Ownership":
   
   
   
7. If prompted by User Access Control, then select "Yes".

6. If your system is a "64-bit Operating System" perform steps 1-2.

1. Extract (drag and drop to your desktop) and run the following files: "Shellstyle Extract x64.exe", "Shellstyle Extract x64_2.exe" from the download in step 1 above.
2. If prompted by User Access Control, then select "Yes".

7. If your system is a "32-bit Operating System" perform steps 1-2.

1. Extract (drag and drop to your desktop) and run the following file: "Shellstyle Extract x86.exe" from the download in step 1 above.
2. If prompted by User Access Control, then select "Yes".

8. Re enable your original theme.

1. Right click on your Desktop, click "Personalize"
2. Enable your desired theme

9. You are Done!

OPTION TWO

To Restore Windows Explorer Toolbar

1. Disable Aero.

1. Right click on your desktop, click "Personalize"
2. Select "Windows Classic" theme

2. Restore Backups.

1. Navigate to the folder:

   C:\Windows\Resources\Themes\Aero\Shell\NormalColor

2. Change the file "shellstyle.dll" to another name I.E. "shellstyle - NEW.dll"
3. Put the original file back in this folder and name it "shellstyle.dll"

1. Navigate to the folder: "C:\Windows\SysWOW64" (Note this folder is only on 64 bit versions of windows 7)
2. Change the file "shellstyle.dll" to another name I.E. "shellstyle - NEW.dll"
3. Put the original file back in this folder and name it "shellstyle.dll"

3. Re enable your original theme.

1. Right click on your Desktop, click "Personalize"
2. Enable your desired theme

4. You are Done!

Related Tutorials

---

• How to Add a Delete Button to the Windows 7 Explorer Toolbar
• How to Add, Remove, or Rearrange Toolbar Buttons in Windows 7 Explorer
• Add Windows Photo Viewer "Slide show" to Context Menu in Windows 7 and Windows 8

 

[kookster]

hope this helps someone, took me forever to find out how to do this, when I found it i figured there should be a tutorial on how too

 

[fakts]

I really wanted this to work as I hate that sh**bar, but I couldn't get this to work

 

[kookster]

did you follow all of the steps? Did you take ownership of the proper files?

 

[fakts]

I did, but I don't have folder (C:\Windows\SysWOW64)
Running W7, 32
How come I don't have that folder?

 

[kookster]

That folder is for 64 bit only, so if your windows is 32 bit it wont have it and you shouldn't have to worry about it.

 

[fakts]

Ok, but
After renaming the old ones and copying the new ones then explorer itself wont start
I get the frame and it looks busy and nothing, explorer itself wont function anymore
Luckily I have xplorer2 installed, otherwise I would be F*****

 

[kookster]

wait so you are reverting it, and it did that? I need you to list in detail every step you did and how you did it.

 

[fakts]

I did exactly as instructed, the problem is that Explorer wont function after switching Shellstyle files

 

[kookster]

What version of windows 7 do you have? and its 32 bit correct?

Well doesnt matter, I was able to replicate this, im working on fixing it. Sorry about this.
There seems to be a issue with the windows/system32 file. O also a note there are still ways you can get to files without explorer, if you open taskmanager select new task, run notepad. You can use its open file menu as a file browser pretty well, just make sure you select all files.

 

[kookster]

ok try just using the "Shellstyle Extract x86.exe", you might have to restart and it might cause explorer to freeze at first.

This should work I just tested it on my desktop which is 32 bit.


Ok so I updated and simplified the tutorial, everything should work correctly for 64 bit and 32 bit.

 

[fakts]

That's more like it
Everything is working fine now, you might want to mention in your tutorial that to be able to use custom themes, they will have to extract that file to:
C:\Windows\Resources\Themes\"Custom Theme"\Shell\NormalColor
Dude, you have no idea how happy you made me
I love you

BTW.. Can you look at my other posts and tell me if you have a solution?

 

[kookster]

That's more like it
Everything is working fine now, you might want to mention in your tutorial that to be able to use custom themes, they will have to extract that file to:
C:\Windows\Resources\Themes\"Custom Theme"\Shell\NormalColor
Dude, you have no idea how happy you made me
I love you

BTW.. Can you look at my other posts and tell me if you have a solution?

O thats good to know, I dont use custom themes so I didn't know. I'm adding in pictures so I will add that in too.
And its great to hear its working!

 

[Hyram]

Well, this doesn't work for me. I like my GUI to be as close to the Windows 2000 standard as is possible, and removing the FolderBand is the last hurdle. I followed your instructions on my 32-bit Win7 and that $%@& bar won't go away. I tried to replicate what 'fakts' did but his instructions aren't clear enough, and my attempts didn't work either.

Assuming I have a custom theme based on Windows Classic called "Grey Basic". Where do I put the shellstyle.dll ?

 

[kookster]

Are you using the Windows Classic theme? Or a custom theme?

 

[Hyram]

I said:

... I have a custom theme based on Windows Classic called "Grey Basic"...

 

[kookster]

ok good! cause if you were using the basic I would have no clue how to help you. But since you said custom there may be hope. Only maybe though.

K first off what are the contents of the folder:
C:\Windows\Resources\Themes

 

[Night Hawk]

One other thing you may want to do kookster is correct something in your information about which version of Windows first saw the toolbar. It wasn't first seen in 7. When looking to customize a few things in a fresh installation of the previous version in time for the upcoming weekend I came across the thread here as you can see.

I would still caution as you did in the guide about backing up the original "shellstyle.dll file just the same in case WE becomes unusable for some reason. That would make it difficult to copy the original back into the system32 folder however but would restore the use of W.Explorer in csae of any mishaps.

And yes when first setting up Windows you have to go into the annoyance long enough to check off the show menu bar option in both versions as well as 32bit and 64bit flavors. Know that one well enough!

 

[Hyram]

what are the contents of the folder:
C:\Windows\Resources\Themes

Aero.

That's it.

What I think you mis-understand is that the theme I use is essentially 'Windows Classic' but with different coloured window bars and a different coloured background.

From my understanding as soon as you use 'Windows Classic' as a basis for a theme, all of the fancy-schmancy eye-dribble foisted on you with W7's normal Themes system is turned off as it is associated with Aero, which means any mods to the shellstyle.dll in C:\Windows\Resources\Themes\ gets ignored.

I detest "interface bling" and killing Aero was the first thing I did once W7 was installed. Second thing was install 'ClassicShell' which eradicates 85% of everything that's wrong with the W7E interface. In fact, the closer my UI resembles Windows 2000, the happier I am. I didn't like the XP default UI much either, but at least I could change pretty much everything to how I like.

(When Microsoft all but admitted they 'borrowed' a lot of ideas for the Windows 7 UI from Mac OS X, the fact that the UI was no longer fully modifiable made more sense -- you can't do jackspit with the OSX UI! )

This is how my XP looks, and how I would dearly love my Win7 to look:

No antialiasing, no animation, no fading in/out, no shadows, no fake 3D, no superfluous buttons, just a clean, ultra minimalist everything-I-need-and-nothing-but interface. And no translucency! The only time I want to see something translucent is if it's a girl's blouse, not on my frik'n desktop!

 

[kookster]

so you are using windows classic theme, thats what I thought, just its customized. In that case I'm not sure how to help you yet. I will see what I can do but I never did anything for the basic themes.

Just so you know the file that I am pretty sure we will need to change is:
C:\Windows\System32\shellstyle.dll