Feature: Display recent folders in the sidebar

[txwizard]

What feature or improvement do you think would benefit Files?

A feature that I use day in and day out is the Windows File Explorer is the display of recently visited folders that immediately follows the pinned folders in the left-hand sidebar.

Though I can use pinning as implemented as a workaround, and it might be that Tags can serve the same purpose, it remains to be seen whether Tags behave like these soft-pinned folders.

In the above picture, the item circled in yellow is a "soft pinned" folder.

Requirements

This proposal will provide the ability to "soft pin" a folder to the sidebar, so that it behaves in most respects as if it had been pinned there.

Moreover, this feature duplicates a very handy feature of the built-in Windows File Explorer.

Files Version

4.0.11.0

Windows Version

10.0.26100.7171

Comments

No response

[yaira2]

Thank you for sharing your feedback. The sidebar is designed for folders you access regularly, not recent locations. If a folder is important enough to display on the sidebar, we encourage users to pin it for quick access.

That being said, there are some use cases for this and I hear where you're coming. For temporary workflows where you need a folder for just a few hours or days, you can find recent folders (and files) on the Home Page.

If there is enough interest, we may consider making this a setting.

[mdtauk]

Thank you for sharing your feedback. The sidebar is designed for folders you access regularly, not recent locations. If a folder is important enough to display on the sidebar, we encourage users to pin it for quick access.

That being said, there are some use cases for this and I hear where you're coming. For temporary workflows where you need a folder for just a few hours or days, you can find recent folders (and files) on the Home Page.

We could add a section for Recent folders, maybe with a drop down to choose between a few numbers of items that make sense

[yaira2]

We could add a section for Recent folders, maybe with a drop down to choose between a few numbers of items that make sense

Adding a new section is possible, but it all depends on if there is sufficient demand.

[txwizard]

That works for me. Obviously, there is a limit on the number of folders that appear in the regular File Explorer. Nevertheless, it is useful to have quick access to that last two or three folders I visited. Since this is a standard feature of the Windows File Explorer, I suspect that having it will increase adoption, not to mention contributions via the Windows Store.

…

On Mon, Nov 17, 2025 at 6:12 PM Yair ***@***.***> wrote: *yaira2* left a comment (files-community/Files#17879) <#17879 (comment)> We could add a section for Recent folders, maybe with a drop down to choose between a few numbers of items that make sense Adding a new section is possible, but it all depends on if there is sufficient demand. — Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub <#17879 (comment)>, or unsubscribe <https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/AEXAGQMIWJJCFNXGVOOW4ML35JQAVAVCNFSM6AAAAACMMR3SS6VHI2DSMVQWIX3LMV43OSLTON2WKQ3PNVWWK3TUHMZTKNBUGQYTMMJZG4> . You are receiving this because you authored the thread.Message ID: ***@***.***>

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[yaira2]

Nevertheless, it is useful to
have quick access to that last two or three folders I visited.

The recent folders list in File Explorer is not always the most recent folders. It seems that only a folder opened multiple times shows up in the list. This is part of the reason why we feel if someone is opening a folder multiple times, they should just pin it.

Since this is a standard feature of the Windows File Explorer, I suspect
that having it will increase adoption, not to mention contributions via the
Windows Store.

In general, copying features from File Explorer doesn’t automatically make the app appealing to more users. In this specific case, we have reasons not to make this change, but if there’s enough interest, we’re also not locked into one approach and are open to reconsidering 🙂

[CharlesLiaoO]

I definitely vote for this feature. Nowadays, many people work for multiple tasks, while a task just a period of time. So, I think pining then unpining some temporarily needed folders is not efficient and sometimes we just forget to do this.
Another point about this feature, I think, is to synchronize the system Explorer's recent folder records, just like the existing sync of "pin Quick Access". An application scenario: after I use Files to access a folder XX a couple of times, when I use an application calls system file dialog API, like save html in browser, I can quickly select that folder XX.
Thank you~

[yaira2]

@CharlesLiaoO For temporary workflows where you need a folder for just a few hours or days, you can find recent folders (and files) on the Home Page.

[mdtauk]

I think we have access to what File Explorer considers recent items, so we wont need to include specific settings for how many days etc to keep items, and it should be a simple toggle to show or hide the group on the sidebar.