Recommended Posts

Hello,

I've changed the location of all my User folders (Contacts, Desktop, Music etc) to my external hard drive root folder. I've got a couple of other folders on that external HD which, obviously, don't appear when I click on my username in start menu/places bar etc.

Is there any way to add custom shell folders so that they appear in my User folder so that I can then change the location of them?

Link to comment
https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/630809-create-custom-shell-folders/
Share on other sites

  • 1 year later...

Hi,

I didn't find a good custom shell folder tutorial with the right registry settings, so I share mine with a Desktop icon, a Start Menu entry and a Folder Option checkbox.

This custom shell folder is usable in Explorer (browsable like My Documents)

{4c64f810-31ec-11db-a98b-0800200c9a66} is a ClassID given by a GUID generator.

You can call this custom shell folder by his ClassID. ex. : "explorer /e,::{4c64f810-31ec-11db-a98b-0800200c9a66}"

If you know how to add a checkbox in Display Properties same as My Documents got, please tell me.

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

; Custom shell folder name : "Home" (REG_EXPAND_SZ)
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{4c64f810-31ec-11db-a98b-0800200c9a66}]
@=hex(2):48,00,6F,00,6D,00,65,00,00,00
"SortOrderIndex"=dword:00000047

; Custom shell folder icon : "%SystemRoot%\\system32\\SHELL32.dll,150" (REG_EXPAND_SZ)
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{4c64f810-31ec-11db-a98b-0800200c9a66}\DefaultIcon]
@=hex(2):25,00,53,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,44,00,72,00,69,00,76,00,65,\
  00,25,00,5c,00,41,00,70,00,70,00,6c,00,69,00,63,00,61,00,74,00,69,00,6f,00,\
  6e,00,73,00,5c,00,69,00,63,00,6f,00,6e,00,73,00,5c,00,41,00,70,00,70,00,6c,\
  00,69,00,63,00,61,00,74,00,69,00,6f,00,6e,00,73,00,2e,00,69,00,63,00,6f,00,\
  00,00

; Custom shell folder required settings : "%SystemRoot%\system32\shdocvw.dll" (REG_EXPAND_SZ)
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{4c64f810-31ec-11db-a98b-0800200c9a66}\InProcServer32]
@=hex(2):25,00,53,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,52,00,6f,00,6f,00,74,00,25,\
  00,5c,00,73,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,33,00,32,00,5c,00,73,00,68,00,\
  64,00,6f,00,63,00,76,00,77,00,2e,00,64,00,6c,00,6c,00,00,00
"ThreadingModel"="Apartment"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{4c64f810-31ec-11db-a98b-0800200c9a66}\Instance]
"CLSID"="{0AFACED1-E828-11D1-9187-B532F1E9575D}"

; Custom shell folder real path (REG_SZ)
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{4c64f810-31ec-11db-a98b-0800200c9a66}\Instance\InitPropertyBag]
"Target"="D:\\Home"

; Custom shell folder attributes : 
; 0xf0000000: SFGAO_FILESYSANCESTOR(1),SFGAO_FOLDER(2),SFGAO_FILESYSTEM(4),SFGAO_HASSUBFOLDER(8)
; 0x08000000: SFGAO_BROWSABLE(8)
; 0x00800000: SFGAO_STORAGEANCESTOR(8)
; 0x00000100: SFGAO_DROPTARGET(1)
; 0x00000010: SFGAO_CANRENAME(1)
; 0x0000000d: SFGAO_CANLINK(4),SFGAO_STORAGE(8)
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{4c64f810-31ec-11db-a98b-0800200c9a66}\ShellFolder]
"Attributes"=dword:f880011d
"WantsFORPARSING"=""

; Show the custom shell folder icon on the Destop
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\HideDesktopIcons\NewStartPanel]
"{4c64f810-31ec-11db-a98b-0800200c9a66}"=dword:00000000

; Custom shell folder checkbox in the Folder Options
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced\Folder\CustomFolderOnDesktop]
"CheckedValue"=dword:00000000
"DefaultValue"=dword:00000000
"HKeyRoot"=dword:80000001
"RegPath"="Software\\Microsoft\\Windows\\CurrentVersion\\Explorer\\HideDesktopIcons\\NewStartPanel"
"Text"="Show the Custom Shell Folder on the Desktop"
"Type"="checkbox"
"ValueName"="{4c64f810-31ec-11db-a98b-0800200c9a66}"
"UncheckedValue"=dword:00000001

; Add the custom shell folder to the Desktop
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Desktop\NameSpace\{4c64f810-31ec-11db-a98b-0800200c9a66}]
@="CustomShellFolder"

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

; Use OEMLink as custom shell folder entry in the Start Menu
; Custom shell folder name (REG_SZ)
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{2559a1f6-21d7-11d4-bdaf-00c04f60b9f0}]
@="Home"

; Custom shell folder icon (REG_SZ)
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{2559a1f6-21d7-11d4-bdaf-00c04f60b9f0}\DefaultIcon]
@="%SystemRoot%\\system32\\SHELL32.dll,150"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{2559a1f6-21d7-11d4-bdaf-00c04f60b9f0}\InProcServer32]
@=hex(2):25,00,53,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,52,00,6f,00,6f,00,74,00,25,\
  00,5c,00,73,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,33,00,32,00,5c,00,73,00,68,00,\
  64,00,6f,00,63,00,76,00,77,00,2e,00,64,00,6c,00,6c,00,00,00
"ThreadingModel"="Apartment"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{2559a1f6-21d7-11d4-bdaf-00c04f60b9f0}\Instance]
"CLSID"="{3f454f0e-42ae-4d7c-8ea3-328250d6e272}"

; Call the custom shell folder by using his ClassID : "::{4c64f810-31ec-11db-a98b-0800200c9a66}"
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{2559a1f6-21d7-11d4-bdaf-00c04f60b9f0}\Instance\InitPropertyBag]
"CLSID"="{13709620-C279-11CE-A49E-444553540000}"
"method"="ShellExecute"
"Command"="&Open"
"Param1"="::{4c64f810-31ec-11db-a98b-0800200c9a66}"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{2559a1f6-21d7-11d4-bdaf-00c04f60b9f0}\shellex]

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{2559a1f6-21d7-11d4-bdaf-00c04f60b9f0}\shellex\ContextMenuHandlers]

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{2559a1f6-21d7-11d4-bdaf-00c04f60b9f0}\shellex\ContextMenuHandlers\{2559a1f6-21d7-11d4-bdaf-00c04f60b9f0}]
@=""

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{2559a1f6-21d7-11d4-bdaf-00c04f60b9f0}\shellex\MayChangeDefaultMenu]
@=""

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{2559a1f6-21d7-11d4-bdaf-00c04f60b9f0}\ShellFolder]
"Attributes"=dword:00000000

; Custom shell folder checkbox in Advanced from Start Menu Properties
; Text = custom shell folder name
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\StartMenu\StartPanel\ShowOEMLink]
"CheckedValue"=dword:00000001
"DefaultValue"=dword:00000001
"HKeyRoot"=dword:80000001
"NoOEMLinkInstalled"=dword:00000000
"RegPath"="Software\\Microsoft\\Windows\\CurrentVersion\\Explorer\\Advanced"
"Text"="Home"
"Type"="checkbox"
"UncheckedValue"=dword:00000000
"ValueName"="Start_ShowOEMLink"

; Custom shell folder policy (NoOEMLinkInstalled)
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\StartMenu\StartPanel\ShowOEMLink\Policy\NoOEMLinkInstalled]
"RegKey"="Software\\Microsoft\\Windows\\CurrentVersion\\Explorer\\StartMenu\\StartPanel\\ShowOEMLink"

; Show the custom shell folder in the Start Menu
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced]
"Start_ShowOEMLink"=dword:00000001

Thank you :) !

This custom shell folder is based on the Font shell folder.

If you need to target to a subfolder from Shell Special Folder, please use TargetSpecialFolder and Target like it's explain on this MSDN page :

http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/ms997573.aspx

Here the Shell Special Folder codes :

http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/bb774096.aspx

About the attributes, here the SFGAO codes :

http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/bb762589.aspx

ex. :

Shell Special Folder code (0x24) is WINDOWS folder ( %windir% or %SystemRoot% ), so the target is Fonts folder in the WINDOWS folder.

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT
  CLSID
    {D20EA4E1-3957-11D2-A40B-0C5020524152}=REG_SZ:"Fonts"
      InfoTip=REG_SZ:"Displays and manages fonts on your computer"
      DefaultIcon=REG_EXPAND_SZ:"%SystemRoot%\system32\main.cpl,9"
      InProcServer32=REG_EXPAND_SZ:"%SystemRoot%\system32\shdocvw.dll"
        ThreadingModel=REG_SZ:"Apartment"
      ShellFolder
        Attributes=REG_DWORD:0x60000000
        WantsFORPARSING=REG_SZ:""
      Instance
        CLSID=REG_SZ:"{0AFACED1-E828-11D1-9187-B532F1E9575D}"
        InitPropertyBag
          TargetSpecialFolder=REG_SZ:"0x0024"
          Target=REG_SZ:"Fonts"

About the Start Menu entry, you can also replace "Set Program Access and Defaults" if you NEVER use it.

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

; Use "Set Program Access and Defaults" as custom shell folder entry in the Start Menu
; Custom shell folder name (REG_SZ)
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{2559a1f7-21d7-11d4-bdaf-00c04f60b9f0}]
@="Home"

; Custom shell folder icon (REG_SZ)
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{2559a1f7-21d7-11d4-bdaf-00c04f60b9f0}\DefaultIcon]
@="%SystemRoot%\\system32\\SHELL32.dll,150"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{2559a1f7-21d7-11d4-bdaf-00c04f60b9f0}\InProcServer32]

@=hex(2):25,00,53,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,52,00,6f,00,6f,00,74,00,25,\
  00,5c,00,73,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,33,00,32,00,5c,00,73,00,68,00,\
  64,00,6f,00,63,00,76,00,77,00,2e,00,64,00,6c,00,6c,00,00,00
"ThreadingModel"="Apartment"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{2559a1f7-21d7-11d4-bdaf-00c04f60b9f0}\Instance]
"CLSID"="{3f454f0e-42ae-4d7c-8ea3-328250d6e272}"

; Call the custom shell folder by using his ClassID : "::{4c64f810-31ec-11db-a98b-0800200c9a66}"
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{2559a1f7-21d7-11d4-bdaf-00c04f60b9f0}\Instance\InitPropertyBag]
"CLSID"="{13709620-C279-11CE-A49E-444553540000}"
"method"="ShellExecute"
"Command"="&Open"
"Param1"="::{4c64f810-31ec-11db-a98b-0800200c9a66}"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{2559a1f7-21d7-11d4-bdaf-00c04f60b9f0}\shellex]

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{2559a1f7-21d7-11d4-bdaf-00c04f60b9f0}\shellex\ContextMenuHandlers]

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{2559a1f7-21d7-11d4-bdaf-00c04f60b9f0}\shellex\ContextMenuHandlers\
{2559a1f6-21d7-11d4-bdaf-00c04f60b9f0}]
@=""

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{2559a1f7-21d7-11d4-bdaf-00c04f60b9f0}\shellex\MayChangeDefaultMenu]
@=""

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{2559a1f7-21d7-11d4-bdaf-00c04f60b9f0}\ShellFolder]
"Attributes"=dword:00000000

; Custom shell folder checkbox in Advanced from Start Menu Properties
; Text = custom shell folder name
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\StartMenu\StartPanel\ShowSetProgramAccessAndDefaults]
"CheckedValue"=dword:00000001
"DefaultValue"=dword:00000001
"HKeyRoot"=dword:80000001
"RegPath"="Software\\Microsoft\\Windows\\CurrentVersion\\Explorer\\Advanced"
"Text"="Home"
"Type"="checkbox"
"UncheckedValue"=dword:00000000
"ValueName"="Start_ShowSetProgramAccessAndDefaults"

; Custom shell folder policy (NoSMConfigurePrograms)
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\StartMenu\StartPanel\ShowSetProgramAccessAndDefaults\Policy\NoSMConfigurePrograms]
"RegKey"="Software\\Microsoft\\Windows\\CurrentVersion\\Explorer\\StartMenu\\StartPanel\\ShowSetProgramAccessAndDefaults"

; Show the custom shell folder in the Start Menu
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\
Advanced]
"Start_ShowSetProgramAccessAndDefaults"=dword:00000001

; Hide Set Program Access and Defaults in Add/Remove Programs
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Uninstall]
"NoChooseProgramsPage"=dword:00000001

This topic is now closed to further replies.
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
  • Posts

    • Patch My PC - Home Updater 5.2.3.0 by Razvan Serea Patch My PC Free is a reliable tool which can quickly check your PC for outdated software. The supported third-party programs include a large number of widely-used applications, including Adobe Reader, Mozilla Firefox, Java, 7-Zip, BleachBit, Google Chrome and many more. Patch My PC Home updater features: Updates over 500 common apps check including portable apps Ability to cache updates for use on multiple machines No bloatware during installations Applications install/update silently by default no install wizard needed Optionally, disable silent install to perform a manual custom install Easy to use user interface Change updated and outdated apps color for color blindness Option to automatically kill programs before updating it Create a baseline of applications if installing on new PC’s Quickly uninstall multiple programs Scan time is usually less than 1 second Set updates to happen on a schedule Skip updates for any application you don’t want to update Suppresses restarts when performing application updates Patch My PC - Home Updater 5.2.3.0 changelog: Startup Manager New tab to manage which apps launch at startup. This helps speed up your boot time and gives you control over what runs in the background. Generate Diagnostic ZIP You can now create a diagnostic ZIP file from the About page. This helps if you need to send logs on our support forum for Home Updater. Remove Portable Apps Right-click any portable app in the App Catalog or Uninstaller page to remove it directly. Applications Added FFmpeg (Full Shared) – Portable Fing G-Helper – Portable IntelliJ IDEA Community Edition K-Lite Basic Codec Pack K-Lite Full Codec Pack K-Lite Standard Codec Pack KeePass Password Safe v1 LibreOffice Help Pack MemTest86 – Portable Nexus Vortex Nvidia Profile Inspector – Portable Pale Moon – Portable ViVeTool – Portable WinCDEmu Windows PC Health Check Wise Video Converter Applications Removed Driver Easy Download: Patch My PC 5.2.3.0 | 54.8 MB (Freeware) Download: Patch My PC Portable | 31.0 MB (Portable) View: Patch My PC Free Homepage | Screenshot Get alerted to all of our Software updates on Twitter at @NeowinSoftware
    • "For starters, Microsoft Edge is getting a media control center. This feature is intended to let you control multiple media sources from any website in a single place." Oh, I've got this Media Control and couldn't find how to disable it. I hate it when a button appears on a toolbar where there was none just before I press Play. I probably would find it at least somewhat useful if I could start playing media from any opened tab, but now it only shows controls for media I've already started playing. If anyone knows how to disable it - I'd appreciate a hint.
    • Now that he turned on Trump and both sides hate him does anyone want this stupid thing?
    • This is what I thought of earlier today because it seems a bit stupid to have an iPhone 17 running iOS 26 (or iOS 2026 / or even iOS 25/2025). Just make it simple so that the year of the hardware release and the software release are in sync. I personally think they should go with 25 or 2025 (not 26 or 2026), but syncing the hardware and software version numbers could be easier to keep track of. At first, it will maybe be jarring due to all of the changes across the ecosystem, but from that point on it will be easier to keep track of.
    • my dad is experiencing the same thing except it's with Excel. the font became thin compared to windows 10, all the settings the same. i've chalked it up to it being that its connected via DVI instead of HDMI. is your setup the same? i have no technical reasons to believe it's DVI, just a plain guess since the other screen he's connected to seems better to me although may just be my mind playing tricks.  also, why don't you change the text size in accessibility? maybe this will help?   
  • Recent Achievements

    • Week One Done
      abortretryfail earned a badge
      Week One Done
    • First Post
      Mr bot earned a badge
      First Post
    • First Post
      Bkl211 earned a badge
      First Post
    • One Year In
      Mido gaber earned a badge
      One Year In
    • One Year In
      Vladimir Migunov earned a badge
      One Year In
  • Popular Contributors

    1. 1
      +primortal
      492
    2. 2
      +FloatingFatMan
      256
    3. 3
      snowy owl
      248
    4. 4
      ATLien_0
      224
    5. 5
      +Edouard
      189
  • Tell a friend

    Love Neowin? Tell a friend!