This has been a problem for me in Windows 10, and now Windows 11 21H2 or 22H2. It happens randomly, like I would be in a sub folder for example on my external SSD and suddenly "This PC" in the navigation pane expands and shows everything and so does the external USB drive that I'm on. Yes the option to automatically expand in File Explorer options is off. I have recently tried this batch file as well: Code: @echo off REG Add HKCU\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced /V NavPaneExpandToCurrentFolder /T REG_DWORD /D 00000000 /F taskkill /f /im explorer.exe start explorer.exe It doesn't happen all the time but randomly and is very annoying. Is there a way to completely disable this expansion of drives in the left pane forever? I just want the list of drives on the left and the quick access items that I've added never to auto-expand. I must note that I have always been using ExplorerPatcher and have now switched to Start11 if that matters since ExplorerPatcher is the buggiest piece of software I have ever used.
I'm also looking for a way to stop having this behavior when I plug in a USB key I tried this registry key, restarted explorer.exe but it doesn't work I have this behavior only with external disks or USB key greater than 32GB
I may have found the cause, to test if the "Removable drive" option in Settings-Bluetooth and Devices-AutoPlay is on "Open folder to view file", then there is this behavior, if it is on "Take no action", it is no longer expanded
If it was possible to keep this option but not have this "expansion" in the navigation pane, that would be cool