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I can't pin a specific Dropbox folder to Quick access on my Windows 10 device.

(Dell Desktop XPS 8940. 64 GB of RAM. Windows 11 Professional. Latest version of Dropbox Windows app, downloaded last week)

I have a specific Dropbox folder that will not pin to quick access. When I do that, nothing happens.

Yet every other dropbox folder in the same parent folder will pin to (an unpin from) quick access just fine.

This problem started today after I fixed another problem last week. In that case, the "Make Online Only" option was not working. It was not removing local files, even after hours of waiting for it to sync. So I had to uninstall Dropbox, manually delete my root dropbox folder from my drive, and then re-install dropbox, log in and wait for it to sync.

So now I've got my folder structure back and my disk space freed. But I can no longer pin that folder that I used to have pinned.

What can I do?

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jmoleary

I believe I managed to solve the problem. It appears to have been a corrupted Quick Access Cache. What did it for me was to delete that cache per the instructions below. Once I did that I was able to pin the folder.

So not a dropbox issue at all, sorry

File Explorer Feature of Pin to Quick Access not working in Windows 11 - Microsoft Q&A

🧼 Delete Corrupt Quick Access Cache

Open File Explorer and paste this into the address bar: %AppData%\Microsoft\Windows\Recent\AutomaticDestinations
Find and delete the file named: f01b4d95cf55d32a.automaticDestinations-ms
Restart your PC. This file will regenerate automatically and may resolve the issue.

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Megan

Hi @jmoleary, let's jump right into this!

It might sound trivial, but have you tried restarting your device by any chance?

Can you also try the following steps?

-Open File Explorer.
-Click the three-dot icon (See more) in the top right corner.
-Select "Options".
-Under the General tab, in the Privacy section, click the "Clear" button.
-Click "Apply" and then "OK".
-Try pinning the folder again.

Keep me posted, and we'll take it from there!

jmoleary

Hi,

yes I have rebooted already. I just did it again. No effect.

And I don't see a "three-dot" icon anywhere on the top right of Windows File Explorer. Certainly I've never seen any privacy options there.

EDIT: I made a mistake earlier. This PC is actually Windows 10, not Windows 11. (My home PC is Windows 11 -- this one is at work)

Here is what I see on the top right of my Windows File Explorer window

Megan

Hey @jmoleary, thanks for the heads up!

Do you notice this behavior only with this specific Dropbox folder, or other folders irrelevant to Dropbox too?

I'm asking, because this issue might not be directly to Dropbox, but let's dive deeper to see what we can find.

Here's what I'd like for you to try: Please try quitting the Dropbox app, and then follow your normal steps in order to pin your folder to your Quick Access. Can you achieve it, or does the behavior remain the same?

jmoleary

No unfortunately the behavior remains the same.

The folder in question is near the root of my dropbox. When I look in file explorer I see something that looks like this

Dropbox
| ---- My Name
| ----- Folder 1
| ----- Folder 2
| ----- Folder 3
| ----- Folder 4
| --- etc. etc. etc.

Just one folder here (let's say, "Folder 3") is the one that will not pin. All the rest will.

Nancy

Hi from me as well, @jmoleary! If the issue persists while the Dropbox app isn’t running, then it may not be directly linked to Dropbox, as Megan also mentioned previously.

If you create a copy of the folder in question outside of your local Dropbox folder, are you able to pin it to your Quick access then?

jmoleary

When I created a copy outside of Dropbox and pinned it, the copy pinned just fine.

jmoleary

Open File Explorer and paste this into the address bar: %AppData%\Microsoft\Windows\Recent\AutomaticDestinations
Find and delete the file named: f01b4d95cf55d32a.automaticDestinations-ms
Restart your PC. This file will regenerate automatically and may resolve the issue.

Nancy

No worries at all, @jmoleary! I’m glad you were able to resolve this and thanks for sharing the solution with us, as well.

We’ll be here, if you need something else.