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How to add libraries to This PC in Windows 10 and Windows 8.1

Today I would like to share a trick which will allow you to have a Libraries icon right inside the This PC folder. It is applicable to Windows 10, Windows 8.1 and Windows 8. I guess it should work in Windows 7 too, but I have not checked it yet. Having Libraries in This PC is very time saving for people who use the Libraries feature frequently, as it will provide just one click access to Libraries from the old Open/Save Windows dialogs which do not have the folder pane.

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This can be done via a simple Registry trick. Do the following:
  1. Open Registry Editor.
  2. Go to the following Registry key:
    HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{031E4825-7B94-4dc3-B131-E946B44C8DD5}

    Tip: See how to jump to the desired Registry key with one click.

  3. Take ownership of that key as described HERE.
  4. You can also our own fastastic tool, RegOwnershipEx, to easily take ownership of Registry keys. RegOwnershipEx can be downloaded HERE

  5. Now at the above mentioned Registry key, create a new 32-bit DWORD value named DescriptionID and set it to 3. This value will be used to show Libraries in the "Folders" category inside This PC.
    descriptionID
  6. If you are running a 64-bit version of Windows (see How to determine if you are running 32-bit Windows or 64-bit), take ownership and full access to the following Registry key too:
    HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Wow6432Node\CLSID\{031E4825-7B94-4dc3-B131-E946B44C8DD5}

    Again, create the same DescriptionID parameter here as well.

  7. Now go to the following Registry key:
    HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\MyComputer\NameSpace

    Create here a new subkey named {031e4825-7b94-4dc3-b131-e946b44c8dd5}:
    namespace new key
    add libraries to this pc
    In case of 64-bit OS, create the same subkey under the following key:

    HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\MyComputer\NameSpace
  8. Sign out and log in back to your Windows account. Alternatively, you can just restart the Explorer shell.

Now, when you open This PC, you will see Libraries inside it. Here is a screenshot from my Windows 10 TP:
windows 10 libraries in this pc
You are done. To revert back all the changes, it is enough to delete the {031e4825-7b94-4dc3-b131-e946b44c8dd5} subkey from
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\MyComputer\NameSpace and HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\MyComputer\NameSpace keys and delete the above mentioned DescriptionID parameter.

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Author: Sergey Tkachenko

Sergey Tkachenko is a software developer who started Winaero back in 2011. On this blog, Sergey is writing about everything connected to Microsoft, Windows and popular software. Follow him on Telegram, Twitter, and YouTube.

One thought on “How to add libraries to This PC in Windows 10 and Windows 8.1”

  1. Hey Sergey!

    I would like to connect with you because there is one other tweak I would like to make. Instead of including Libraries, include a specific library I created. I would very much appreciate your help, please get back to me as soon as you can

    (I know a little bit about how regedit and permissions work, so it should not be too difficult)

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