Last Updated on May 8, 2026
File Explorer is the tool or application used to manage files and folders in the Windows operating system. It’s broken down into several sections such as the toolbar on the top and the navigation pane on the left. To access your files and folders, you can select the drive you want to open from the navigation pane on the left and then browse to the folder that has the files you need to work on.
As you navigate through File Explorer on a daily basis, Windows tries to automatically present your connected storage devices in several convenient locations, but this can sometimes lead to unnecessary repetition. These annoying duplicate drive entries do not actively affect how your system works or slow down your computer, yet they can easily make the navigation pane feel cluttered or deeply confusing.
This is especially true if you frequently switch between multiple hard drives or external USB flash drives. Cleaning up this visual view not only makes File Explorer significantly easier to use, but it also helps you efficiently focus on the exact folders and locations you actually rely on day-to-day.
If you were to completely expand the “This PC” section located in the navigation pane, you would likely see that you now have your physical drives shown twice in the list. If this repetitive layout is not something you want to see on your screen, then you can confidently follow these straightforward steps to securely remove duplicate drives from the navigation pane in File Explorer.
1. Download the Required Registry Files
To permanently remove these duplicate drives from your view, we will be securely using a pre-configured registry file to make this system change for you. There is also another convenient registry file included in the download that you can confidently use to completely reverse the process if you ever want things back to the exact way they were. You can easily download both of these necessary registry files from our website right here.
2. Create a System Restore Point
You should always be incredibly careful when doing this type of system-level thing, as modifying the Windows registry can cause unexpected issues if done incorrectly. Because of this, you may also want to strongly consider manually making a Windows system restore point before moving forward. Taking a few seconds to create a backup ensures you have a safe, working environment to jump back to if anything goes wrong during the installation.
3. Review the Registry File Contents
The italicized text below explicitly shows the exact contents of the registry file we will be using to successfully remove duplicate drives from the navigation pane in File Explorer. You can also easily right-click the downloaded registry files yourself and cautiously choose the “Edit in Notepad” option to securely see this configuration information directly on your computer screen.
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[-HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Desktop\NameSpace\DelegateFolders{F5FB2C77-0E2F-4A16-A381-3E560C68BC83}]
4. Run the Remove Duplicate Drives File
To seamlessly import these new registry changes into your computer’s database, you can simply double-click the newly downloaded Remove Duplicate Drives.reg file to begin. When the standard Windows security warning pops up on your desktop, carefully review the prompt and simply click the Run button on the next screen to proceed with the system modification.
5. Accept the User Account Control Prompt
You will then immediately receive a standard User Account Control (UAC) prompt asking you to officially approve the system changes. This is a built-in Windows security feature designed to specifically prevent unauthorized or malicious programs from editing your computer behind your back. You can safely click the Yes button to grant the program administrator permissions and continue to the final step.
6. Confirm the Registry Editor Warning
Next, you will be explicitly asked by the operating system if you genuinely want to continue adding the new information from the downloaded registry file into the core Windows registry. This is just one final built-in safety check to ensure you actually intended to run the script. You can comfortably bypass this warning by clicking on the Yes button once again.
7. Acknowledge the Successful Registry Import
Once the script has finished executing natively in the background, the final prompt window will pop up on your screen to notify you of the results. It will clearly tell you that the registry changes have been successfully added to the database without any errors. You can then simply click the OK button to close this prompt and finalize the quick installation process.
8. Restart the Windows Explorer Process
If the visual changes to your navigation pane do not seem to take effect right away, you can either restart the computer completely or quickly restart the Windows Explorer process. To immediately restart Windows Explorer, simply right-click anywhere on the bottom taskbar and thoughtfully choose the Task Manager option. Then carefully find Windows Explorer in the active processes list, right-click it, and finally choose Restart.
9. Verify the Clean Navigation Pane
When you choose to restart the process, you will immediately see your desktop icons and bottom taskbar completely disappear for a brief second, and then they should come right back up. Now when you open a fresh File Explorer window, you should beautifully see that your physical drives are only listed once in the left-hand navigation pane beneath the “This PC” heading.
10. Reverse the Process if Needed
If you ever change your mind in the future, it is incredibly simple to reverse the entire process and put things exactly back to the way they originally were. You can just dig out that extracted folder and double-click the downloaded Add Duplicate Drives.reg file to quickly restore the old layout. You will simply need to go through the exact same UAC approval process, including restarting the computer or the Windows Explorer application to see the original drives reappear.
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