How to Backup and Restore Quick Access Pinned Folders in Windows 10/11

February 9, 2024 Windows 10, Windows 11

The Quick access page in File Explorer is the shortest route to files you’ve been working on and folders you often use. These are your frequent folders and recent files.

You can Pin to Quick access and Unpin from Quick access folders in Windows 10. These folder locations can include local and network folders, drives, libraries, Recycle Bin, etc…, but files and apps cannot be pinned to Quick access.

Folders pinned to Quick access will display under Frequent folders in Quick access in File Explorer, and under Quick access in the navigation pane of File Explorer.

Folders you pin or unpin for Quick access will also be pinned or unpinned in the jump list of File Explorer on the taskbar and Start menu.

This tutorial will show you how to backup and restore Quick access pinned folders for your account in Windows 10.

Backups of Quick access pinned folders can only be restored to the specific user account name they were backed up from.

EXAMPLE: Folders pinned to Quick access in File Explorer

Backup Quick Access Pinned Folders

1 Open File Explorer (Win+E).

2 Click/tap on the icon to the left in the address bar, copy and paste %AppData%\Microsoft\Windows\Recent\AutomaticDestinations into the address bar, and press Enter. (see screenshot below)

3 Copy (Ctrl+C) and Paste (Ctrl+V) the f01b4d95cf55d32a.automaticDestinations-ms file to where you want to keep it saved at as your back up. (see screenshot below)

It is recommend to save a copy of the f01b4d95cf55d32a.automaticDestinations-ms file in a folder named after the account the backup is from to help know which account to restore the backup for in the future.

4 When finished, you can close File Explorer if you like.

Restore Backup of Quick Access Pinned Folders

1 Open File Explorer (Win+E).

2 Click/tap on the icon to the left in the address bar, copy and paste %AppData%\Microsoft\Windows\Recent\AutomaticDestinations into the address bar, and press Enter. (see screenshot below)

3 Copy (Ctrl+C) and Paste (Ctrl+V) the f01b4d95cf55d32a.automaticDestinations-ms file backed up from Option One into the AutomaticDestinations folder. (see screenshot below)

4 If prompted, click/tap on Replace the file in the destination. (see screenshot below)

5 When finished, you can close File Explorer if you like.