Windows Explorer to open folder then next folder again (Enter not working) [duplicate]

Question

I just realized that this annoying bug bothers me for years.

Example: I hit Windows+E to open the Explorer and want to hit Enter again to choose the first item C:. The problem is that C: is not focused automatically. Instead I have to press cursor down, cursor up, and then C: gets highlighted and I can finally press Enter to open it. This behaviour is the same with all folders in Windows Explorer.

Could anyone enlighten me with the shortcut to directly open the first folder without any cursor keys?

Answer 1

I’m not sure what the official Microsoft-sanctioned terminology is, but Space takes the currently identified item and selects it (gives it focus?), so you can operate on it with other keyboard shortcuts, like Enter, Alt+Enter, Ctrl+C, Ctrl+X, etc.

Answer 2

The WIN + E opens different previews in different versions.

However, generally it opens the My Computer, with all the drives listed. Drive C: is where the cursor is, but it is not automatically highlighted as you pointed out.

There is no specific shortcut, however if you wish to avoid using the cursor keys, you can type the first letter of the name of Drive C: to toggle the selection.

Example: My hard drives are labelled as Local Disk(C:) Local Disk(D:), so I press L twice to select Local Disk(C:), then you can press Local Disk(C:) and ENTER. So using this logic you can avoid the cursor keys.