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Windows Explorer Jump Lists missing in Windows 7

If you find that the Jumplist of Windows Explorer in Windows 7 has reduced to merely the name, the pin/unpin option and the close option, you can fix it by doing this:


  1. Create two temporary folders on your Desktop called "Automatic" and "Custom".
  2. Click Start.
  3. Paste %APPDATA%\Microsoft\Windows\Recent\AutomaticDestinations in the search box and hit Enter.
  4. Move all the files in this folder to the temporary folder called "Automatic".
  5. Repeat steps 3 and 4 for %APPDATA%\Microsoft\Windows\Recent\CustomDestinations, using temporary folder "Custom".
  6. Restart your computer.
     
  7. Use your computer normally for a few hours, a day or so. Especially, you have to browse your folders frequently using Windows Explorer. This is so that new files get created for Windows Explorer in the two folders where you moved out old files in step 4. (Set a reminder for step 8.)
     
  8. Go back to the two locations in step 3 and step 5, and check if a few new files (around 5 or so) have been created. If yes, proceed to step 9. If not, continue step 7.
  9. Open the temporary folder called "Automatic" and move all files into the location %APPDATA%\Microsoft\Windows\Recent\AutomaticDestinations but Please Take Note:
    - When a conflict arises, choose the 'Don't move' option.
    - The new files created must not be replaced by old files you moved out!
    - This is very important! If you click 'Move and Replace', you will break the Windows Explorer jump list again.
  10. Repeat step 9 for temporary folder "Custom" and location %APPDATA%\Microsoft\Windows\Recent\CustomDestinations. Once again, for conflicts, click the 'Don't move' option.
  11. If you followed instructions correctly, after step 10 you will find a few files remaining unmoved in the temporary folders. Now you can delete these temporary folders from your Desktop.
Technical note: Steps 1 to 6 will fix Windows Explorer jump list but they will break other jump lists and the recent documents feature of Start Menu. Steps 7 to 10 will fix what is broken by steps 1 to 6.

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