Fix : Quick Access Menu Not Working on Windows 11 / 10

The Quick Access menu in Windows 10/ 11 is a pretty amazing feature if you have a lot to work with your File Explorer. The Quick Access menu contains all the recently accessed files and folders that are often used by the user. And this list keeps changing from time to time based on your activity on the computer. However, users seem to have trouble with the Quick Access menu, especially in Windows 10/ 11.

There have been a lot of complaints lately from the users about their Quick Access menu not working in Windows 10/ 11. Either the Quick Access menu contents don’t show up on the screen, or it keeps on loading for a very long time. Recently, a few users have also added that they encounter a certain error as they try to expand the Quick Access menu on their system. Well, whatever the problem be, here’s all you need to know to fix this problem.

Fix: Quick Access Menu Not Working on Windows 11 / 10

Technically, there are two standard ways to fix the Quick Access menu not working or responding to issues on your Windows PC. Although the solutions are similar for both Windows 10 and 11, the steps are slightly different. Below, we have discussed the steps to fix this issue for both Windows versions.

1. Re-Enabling Quick Access Menu

By default, the Quick Access menu is enabled on your computer regardless of which version you are using. So, if you are having trouble accessing the quick access menu, your first try must be to disable the menu and re-enable it again. The steps to do so are as given below:

Re-enable Quick Access Menu in Windows 10

• Firstly, open your Windows 10 File Explorer.
• Go to View and double-click on Options.
• In the Folder Options window, uncheck both the options under the Privacy Section.

• Now, clear your File Explorer history.
• Click on OK.
• Again, open Folder Options and check both options.

• Click on Apply > OK.

Re-enable Quick Access Menu in Windows 11

• Open File Explorer.
• Click on the three-dot icon on the navigation bar.

• Select Options from the drop-down menu.
• Now, uncheck both the options under the Privacy tab.
• Clear File Explorer history.
• Open the Folder Options again and check both options.

• Click on Apply > OK, and you are done.

If you are lucky enough and re-enabling the Quick Access menu solves the issue on your PC, well, that’s good news. However, if it fails, then here is the second method you need to give a try.

2. Resetting Quick Access Menu

Fortunately, the steps to reset the quick access menu on PC are the same for both Windows 10 and 11. Here is how to reset the Quick Access menu on your Windows computer:

• Press the Win + R key to open the run window.
• Type regedit in the textbox and click on the Enter button.

• This will open the Registry Editor. Now go to the following path: Computer\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Ribbon

• Find the file named QatItems and delete it.
• Close the Registry Window and check if the Quick Access menu is functioning normally.

Conclusion

The Quick Access menu in Windows is a handy way to select the recently opened files or regularly used folders. If you make using the Quick Access menu a habit, then you might find it really annoying if it stops working. However, these fixes we saw above will help resolve the issue completely, and you can use the Quick Access feature without more complications.