How to Delete File Explorer’s Address Bar History in Windows

Learn three easy methods to quickly delete the File Explorer’s address bar history in Windows 11 and Windows 10.

Most don’t know this but the File Explorer keeps track of every folder path you enter in its address bar. This helps you quickly navigate to the earlier paths without manually entering it again and again. For example, let’s say you have a folder nested deep inside another folder. Rather than manually navigating to the folder, you can simply type its path in the address bar and press Enter. The next time you want to access the same folder, clicking the down arrow in the File Explorer’s address bar shows the earlier visited path in the history.

While this is useful, there might be situations where you need to delete the address bar history from File Explorer. Thankfully, you can either delete a specific path from the File Explorer address bar or clear the entire history using Folder Options or Registry Editor. In this quick and easy guide, I will show you how to do it in simple steps. Let’s get started.

Before You Start

• The steps below are tested to work on Windows 11 and Windows 10.

Delete File Explorer Address Bar History Using Right-Click

You can delete the entire File Explorer’s address bar history directly from the File Explorer itself. Here’s how:

1. Open the File Explorer by pressing the “Windows key + E” shortcut.
2. Right-click on the address bar.
3. Select the “Delete history” option.
4. With that, you’ve cleared the entire File Explorer address bar history.

Delete File Explorer Address Bar History Using Folder Options

Alternatively, you can also use the folder options tool to clear the File Explorer address bar history. The good thing about this method is it it also create your activity history under Quick Access.

On Windows 11

1. Press “Windows key + E” to open File Explorer.
2. Click the “See more” (three horizontal dots) icon on the command bar.
3. Select “Options“.
4. Click the “Clear” button under the “Privacy” section.
5. With that, you’ve deleted the File Explorer’s address bar history completely.

On Windows 10

1. Open the File Explorer using the “Windows key + E” shortcut.
2. Click the “View” tab appearing in the top bar.
3. Click the “Options” button.
   
4. The above action will open the Folder Options window. Here, click on the “Clear” button.
   
5. Windows Explorer will delete the address bar history as soon as you click on the clear button.

Delete Specific File Explorer Address Bar Entries Using the Registry Editor

File Explorer keeps track of all the entries in the address bar as individual values in the registry. That means, if you want to remove a specific entry from the address bar, you should delete the relevant value in the registry. If you want to clear the entire address bar history, all you have to do is delete all the value. Here’s how:

Note: Before proceeding, please back up the registry.

1. Open the Run dialog box using “Windows key + R”.
2. Type regedit and click “OK” to open the Registry Editor.
3. Go to the following folder in the Registry Editor. Computer\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\TypedPaths
4. On the right panel, you will see multiple values like url1, url2, etc. To delete a single entry from the file explorer history, right-click the target value and select the “Delete” option.
   
5. You will see a warning message. Click the “Yes” button to continue.
   
6. To clear the entire File Explorer address bar history, select all the values except “Default,” right-click, and choose the “Delete” option.
7. Click “Yes” to continue.
   
8. Close registry editor.
9. Close and reopen the file explorer, and the address bar history is cleared automatically.

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That is all. It is that simple to delete address bar history in File Explorer. If you have any questions or need help, comment below. I’ll be happy to assist.

Good to know:

• How to clear recent color history
• How to install new fonts in Windows 10.