Can I get "This PC" and "User Files" to show in my "Save As" dialogs?

Personalize > Themes > Desktop icon settings DOES have "This PC" and "User's Files" enabled.
These do show up on the desktop (marked with red arrows in the image)

(inset, top middle) An old "Save As" dialog from software made in 1995, running on Windows 11, shows the correct "This PC" and "First/Last Name" (User's Files) icons for easy access into those areas to save things. This has been my preferred method of getting where I need to go probably since Win95; I don't understand why it has to change now.

You can see (yellow arrows) pointing to .lnk shortcuts that I have to make on the desktop because the Win 11 "Save As" dialog (bottom majority of the image) doesn't have "First Name Last Name" (User's Files) nor "This PC" folders, only the .lnk files I put there.

The primary reason I want these folders back in the "Save As" dialog is that the shortcuts (even with brackets to put them toward the top of the list, alphabetically) get pushed back behind other things.

In Windows 7, I renamed "This PC" and "User's Files" folders from the Desktop Icon Settings to "[This PC]" and "[User's Files' Name]" and they were always #1 and #2 in the Save As dialogs for all software I use.

So... Is there any way to get Windows 11 to cooperate and put those folder ACTUALLY back on the desktop and not just use this weird ... ghost folder? ... situation?

The simple answer is No. The problem is Save as relies upon a folder to save in and the Path to that folder starts with C:\ and This PC is not a folder, it is akin to a file cabinet that the folders are in. As for Users Files, the folders containing them are in C:\Users\USERNAMEHERE\ and there will be several such as Documents, Music, Pictures, Downloads, maybe more. All one has to do with Save as is to point to one of those folders. Additional folders can be added in C:\ and used. The Root of the drive, C:\, does not allow much saving to it. External drives such as USB-connected, USB Thumb drives and NAS drives can be used by pointing the Save as to. For programs, using Save writes a file to whatever folder is set in the program's Options or Preferences.

Have you investigated using the Libraries feature?

Pin the desired locations to the Navigation Pane.

Stormbow said:

So... Is there any way to get Windows 11 to cooperate

Click to expand...

Please tell us what the software is and post a single diagram showing its SaveAs window without any confusing doodles over it.


All the best,
Denis

Stormbow said:

You can see (yellow arrows) pointing to .lnk shortcuts that I have to make on the desktop because the Win 11 "Save As" dialog (bottom majority of the image) doesn't have "First Name Last Name" (User's Files) nor "This PC" folders, only the .lnk files I put there.

The primary reason I want these folders back in the "Save As" dialog is that the shortcuts (even with brackets to put them toward the top of the list, alphabetically) get pushed back behind other things.

Click to expand...

I get both This PC and User Folders appear in my Save As dialog. They appear in the Navigation pane on the Left Hand side, not inside the Desktop folder.

If you want User Folders to appear on the Navigation pane, you need to find them, then right-mouse click them and select Pin to Quick Access, from the dropdown menu. Then they should appear. But you probably already know that because I see you pinned Minecraft to the Navigation Pane already. So maybe I don't quite know what the question is?

Yes, if you want these folders to appear actually inside the Desktop folder then you'd need to provide shortcuts accessible from that folder.
"Explorer" has changed in Window's over the years. That means the Save As dialog changes too. Up to and including Windows 7 it was known as Windows Explorer. After Windows 7 it got re-vamped as File Explorer. Some of users preferences went, when the changes were implemented. I cannot help that.

If it helps, you can rename the My PC folder. There are three ways of achieving that:
1. If you select it with a Right-mouse click and then select "Show more options" when the pop-up menu appears, then you have more options where you can choose Rename.
2. Select My PC folder with a Right-mouse click, then select the Rename icon, which appears on top left of the pop-up menu.
3. Select My PC folder with one click, so that it is highlighted. Then press F2. That is it.
Once the changes are made, the results should show up in the Save As dialog.

Try3 said:

Please tell us what the software is and post a single diagram showing its SaveAs window without any confusing doodles over it.


All the best,
Denis

Click to expand...

I suspect it is Paint Shop Pro 9 (2004). The "Save as Type" selector at the bottom of the pic suggests this - only it could mean any prog that can write that type of files. We wont know for sure until the O.P. declares what they are doing. Let's wait.