How To Restore Previous Folder Windows at Logon

You can configure Windows to restore the previous folder Windows at logon, restart, or when you sign out and in. Here is how.

We all use File Explorer almost every day. In fact, most of us have specific folders we open daily. For example, I have a couple of folders I open immediately after starting the computer. These folders belong to my workflow. As you can guess, I have to open these folders to get the work done.

Rather than manually opening your frequent folders or the last opened folder windows, you can configure the Windows operating to open them automatically. i.e., restore previous folder windows at logon.

When you shut down, restart, or sign out without closing the folders, Windows can restore them after login. As you can guess, this feature is beneficial as it eliminates the need to open folder windows manually.

To make that happen, you must turn on the restore previous folder windows option in the operating system. It is pretty simple to do that.

So, without delay, let me show you the steps to turn on the restore previous folder windows option in Windows 11 OS.

Table of contents:

• Turn on restore previous folder windows from Folder options
• Modify the registry to turn on the restore previous folder windows option

Turn on restore previous folder windows from Folder options

You can enable or turn on the restore previous folder windows option from the File Explorer Folder Options. You need to know where to find the option. Let me show you how.

1. Open the File Explorer.
2. Click the “Menu” (…) icon.
3. Choose the “Options” option from the menu.
4. Go to the “View” tab.
5. Choose the “Restore previous folder windows at logon” checkbox.
6. Press the “Ok” button.
7. With that, previous folder windows are restored at logon.

Steps with more details:

First, we need to open the Folder Options tool. You can do that from the File Explorer. So, open the File Explorer with the “Start key + I” keyboard shortcut.

In the File Explorer window, click on the “Menu” (…) icon on the top bar. Choose the “Options” option from the dropdown menu.

Go to the “View” tab in the Folder Options tool. You will see a whole bunch of options in this tab. Under the “Advanced Settings” section, find and select the “Restore previous folder windows at logon” checkbox.

Finally, press the “Apply” and “Ok” buttons to save changes.

Windows will automatically restore the folder windows at logon from now. Remember that you should not close the folder while shutting down, restarting, or signing out.

Modify the registry to turn on the restore previous folder windows option

If necessary, you can modify the registry to enable the restore previous folder windows feature. It is pretty easy to do. Let me show you how.

1. Press the Start to open the Start menu.
2. Search and open the “Registry Editor.”
3. Go to the below folder in the Registry Editor.
   HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced
4. Right-click on the “Advanced” folder.
5. Choose the “New > Dword” option.
6. Type “PersistBrowsers” as its name.
7. Double-click on the “PersistBrowsers” value.
8. Type “1” in the Value Data field.
9. Press the “Ok” button.
10. Close the registry.
11. Reboot the computer.
12. With that, previous folder windows are restored at logon.

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That is all. It is that simple to turn on restore previous folder Windows at logon in Windows 11.

I hope this simple Windows how-to guide helped you.

If you are stuck or need some help, comment below, and I will try to help as much as possible.