Show user profile folder link on navigation pane

I have seen this when a file chooser dialog (or maybe some other explorer dialog, I don't quite remember) opened by some application, where the user folder is shown in the navigation pane of explorer.

As you can see, my user profile folder is shown there on the navigation pane (highlighted). Mind you, this screenshot is not from the usual explorer window, but from some kind of file chooser dialog or something, as mentioned earlier.

Having the user profile there is handy. Note that I can get user profile folder by enabling "Show all folders" from the navigation pane context menu, but then the navigation pane kind of looks cramped.

Is there any way to add the user profile folder to the navigation pane of the explorer permanently? I am completely okay with registry hacks.

1 Answer

How to Add or Remove your User Folder from Navigation Pane in Windows 7
For detailed information click Windows Seven Forum

To to add or remove your user name User Profile Folder (C:\Users(user-name)) in the Windows Explorer Navigation Pane in Windows 7 follow the instructions below:

1. Open the Start Menu and type regedit.exe in the search line, then press enter.

2. If prompted by UAC, then click on Yes.

3. In Regedit, go to the location below:

   HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{59031a47-3f72-44a7-89c5-5595fe6b30ee}\ShellFolder

4. In the left pane of regedit, right click on the ShellFolder key and click on Permissions.

5. At the top, select the Administrators group. At the bottom, check the Allow box to the right of Full Control and click on OK.

6. To Add your User Folder to the Navigation Pane NOTE: This is the default setting. A) In the right pane of regedit, right click on Attributes, click on Modify, type f084012d, and click on OK. (see screenshots below) NOTE: This is to have your user profile folder display under Desktop when you have Show all folders checked.

   B) In the right pane of ShellFolder, right click on a empty space, click on New and String Value, copy and paste the name below, and press Enter. (see screenshot below) NOTE: If you like, this is to have your user profile folder display as a separate group in the navigation pane when you do not have Show all folders checked.

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7. If you have 64-bit Windows 7 Installed Note

To also add or remove your User Folder from the File -> "Open" and File -> "Save as" type dialog windows as well in 64-bit Windows 7, you will also need to do this step. This does not include the "Browse", "Copy to folder", or "Move to folder" type dialog windows though.

If you have a 32-bit Windows 7 installed, then skip this step since doing steps 1 to 7/8 will add or remove your User Folder from the "Open" and "Save as" type windows as well. A) In Regedit, go to the location below:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Classes\CLSID\{59031a47-3f72-44a7-89c5-5595fe6b30ee}\ShellFolder

B) Repeat steps 4 to 6 above for this registry location.

8. Close regedit.

9. Restart the computer to fully apply.

One addition: when UAC is off, you don't have to restart, just open a new explorer window, and the you'll see the changes immediately. according to "Sнаđошƒаӽ"