How to Clear Recent Files on Windows 10

Are your files have been accumulating and displayed a list of recent files and folders on your computer? Is it affecting the performance of your computer? This guide will provide you with tips to clear recent files on Windows 10.

Amy Dennis

Dec 21, 2020 • Filed to: Recover & Repair Files • Proven solutions

Accumulation of day to day files that you download, create or the system develops itself are the junk files. You might have noticed a list of recent folders and files that had recently visited or opened that is displayed at the bottom of the window of the File Explorer. Although this makes it easy for you to access files that you open frequently. So in this manner, you can significantly access to the files you like to explore or get back to or work on despite burrowing by the File Explorer. However, some people like to keep their files in some places where they can be kept for privacy. So, let’s get started to clean up the files on Windows 10.

Part 1: Where can I see recent files on Windows 10

1. File Explorer’s Quick Access panel

It is the customizable toolbar in the file explorer containing a set of commands i.e. independent of the tab on the ribbon to be displayed. The Quick Access Toolbar provides you with quick access to some of the most commonly used features like save and undo. Windows 10 acquainted the Quick Access see with File Explorer. At whatever point you open a File Explorer window, you’ll see a rundown of frequent folders and as of late got to records, just as show frequent folders under the Quick Access thing in the navigation pane. It helps clients by listings links of the most often got to folders and files. This content is assembled by «Recent files» and «frequent folders», and as a matter of course, settings can show up to ten folders and twenty documents. Although quick access is a decent little component in Windows 10, it may not be for everybody.

2. A Jump List will show all recent files associated with a particular application on Task Bar

Jump list is all those files and folders that you have opened which shows up while you do a right-click on it. This means that windows remember every document that you opened but after it is checked to let it display. This is called a Jump List. Jump Lists can be found on the application symbols that show up on the Taskbar or the Start menu. On the Taskbar, Jump Lists show up for applications that you’ve stuck to the Taskbar and applications that are at present running.

Individua;l applications of the Jump Lists are stored in different locations to be accessible through File Explorer. A Jump List represents all recent files in association with a particular application. Once any file or folder appears on the Jump List, it might indefinitely remain on the Jump List. If you added the Recent Items alternative to the Start Menu, you or any other individual could see every one of the records you as of late opened!

In case you’re a protection crack who doesn’t need another person to perceive what sort of reports you’ve been opening, clearing this rundown is fundamental! Nonetheless, beginning with Windows 7, there was another component presented called a Jump List. With Jump Lists, that usefulness fundamentally moved from the Start Menu to the taskbar in Windows 8 and Windows 10! For instance, if you open a few Word reports and, at that point right-click on the Word symbol in the taskbar,

On the off chance that nobody else utilizes your PC, that is fine, however, generally, it resembles a fast look into your stuff! Microsoft made this component for accommodation purposes, so you could without much of a stretch open a website page you visit frequently or record that you had as of late dealt with.

Each program needs to separately support this element to see the rundown. If a program doesn’t support Jump Lists, you won’t see anything when you right-click on the symbol.

Part 2: Clear Recent Files on Settings of Windows 10

To clear the recent files from on the Settings, you need to follow the steps which are as follows:

Step 1:В Go to Settings and then click on Personalization

Step 2:В Click on start on the left pane and switch the option from on to off i.e. Show recently opened items in Jump Lists on Start or the taskbar.

In this manner, you will be able to clear all the recent items except the pinned items.

Part 3: Clear Recent Files using File Explorer

Step 1:В Open File Explorer, click on File and select Change folder and search options.

Step 2:В Under the General Tab, Click on the clear button for immediate clean up of the file explorer history.

Clearing up the files in this way assists in removing files from Quick Access. But, there is a possibility that some file might be left uncleaned and you need to do that again.

Part 4: Clear individual items from Recent files or Frequent folders

Although recent files can be cleared by different methods, you also have the option to eliminate individual items from Quick access without clearing all your recent files or oftentimes used folders. On the off chance that you need to hold most of the rundowns and dispose of a few things in particular, at that point you don’t have to clear the whole rundown. To clear frequent folders and recent files in Windows 10, you need to do the following:

Step 1:В Open File Explorer on your PC and click on a quick access view.

Step 2:В Identify the folder or an individual file that you want to remove from the recent files list. Right-click on the folder and select «Remove from Quick access» in the menu that opens.

Part 5: Manually Clear Jump Lists

Although the concept of Jump List had been introduced with Windows 7. But, since its launch, it has always been a nice feature in improving productivity and workflow. But, Sometimes you need to delete all such items on the list. Removing all the items on the light has been easy. You only need to:

Step 1:В Right-click on the desktop and select Personalize from the drop-down menu.

Step 2:В Click on Start and then scroll down to turn the Show recently opened items in Jump Lists on Start or the taskbar from on to off.

Part 6: How to Completely Clear Recent Document with Stellar BitRaser File Eraser

Introduce BitRaser File Eraser

An advanced file eraser software that deals with permanent file, internet history, application traces, and folders for erasing from more IT assets and storage devices like SSD, hard drive, laptop, desktop, and storage media eliminating the chance of recovery.

• Erases installed traces of an application, internet, and system activity.
• Supports 17 different international erasure standards such as DoD 5220.22-M, NATO, etc.
• Provides Erasure certification to assist in meeting compliance.
• Automates the process ofВ erasure for folders and files.
• Generates Erasure reports
• Search and Erase
• Compatible with all versions of Windows and servers.
• Removes chat messages
• Clean Data from Email Clients
• Sanitizes unused space of the disk.

Steps to repair corrupt Word file with BitRaser File Eraser

Data can be erased on Mac using BitRaser File Eraser followed by a series of step i.e.

Step 1:В Download Stellar BitRaser for the file on Windows and connect the Mac hard drive with the PC.

Step 2:В Launch Stellar BitRaser and select your Mac drive

Step 3:В Click Erase Now button to erase the Mac hard drive on Windows.

Erasing data using BitRaser eliminates any possibility to recover erased data by using any data recovery software or services which might also include forensic tools. Therefore, any erased file by BitRaser can not be ever recovered. Make sure to check your files before you erase them. Don’t be in much hurry to bear any great loss.

How to delete Recent Files and Folders in Windows 10

In this post, we will show you how to remove or clear Recent Files and Folders auto-suggest history items from Explorer Address bar, using Settings, Explorer Options, Registry, or freeware in Windows 10.

Every Windows user might have observed, whenever he clicks on the ‘down’ arrow or start typing something in the address bar field of File Explorer, a history of all previous locations and URLs appears before him. This could raise privacy or security concerns for some. All the URLs can be deleted by removing them via Registry Editor. In this post, we will see how you can remove or delete Windows File Explorer address bar auto-suggest history items from the drop-down menu.

Clear Recent Files and Folders in Windows 10

You can delete Recent Files and Folders in Windows 10, using the following methods:

1. Using Folder Options
2. Using Settings
3. Using Registry Editor
4. Via Explorer address bar
5. Delete contents of the Recent items folder
6. Using a free tool.

Let us take a look at each of these options.

1] Delete Recent Files and Folders using Folder Options

To delete all File Explorer History in Windows 10:

1. Open Folder Options or File Explorer Options as it is now called
2. Under the General tab locate Privacy
3. Click on the Clear File Explorer history button.
4. Click Apply/OK and exit.

2] Remove Recent Files and Folders using Settings

To do this using the Settings app:

1. Open Windows 10 Settings
2. Select Personalization settings
3. Click on Start from the left panel
4. Locate Show recently opened items in Jump Lists on Start or the taskbar
5. Turn it Off and then turn it On.

3] Remove Recent Files and Folders using Registry Editor

You can also use the Windows Registry:

• Press Win+R to bring up the Run dialog box. Type regedit and hit Enter.
• Next, in the window that opens, navigate to the following path:

• Once there, select the TypedPaths entry from the list of options available.
• In the right-side panel, you will see url1, url2, etc corresponding to various URLs or paths.
• Right-click on the one you want to delete and select Delete.

This way, you can delete one, more or all of the items.

4] Delete Recent Files and Folders via Explorer address bar

If you wish to delete all address bar history, in Windows 10 you can right-click on the Explorer bar and select Delete history.

5] Delete contents of the Recent items folder

You can also clear recent files & folders by deleting the contents of the Recent items folder:

Open Explorer and navigate to:

The exact location is:

Select all the contents of this folder and delete them.

6] Use a free tool

There are always those several free junk file cleaners that let you achieve all this and more with the click of a button.

Try the popular freeware CCleaner and see if you like it. You can also download and use the freeware MRU Blaster from its home page.

How To Clear Frequent Folders and Recent Files in Windows 10

The updated File Explorer app in Windows 10 has a new default location called Quick Access. In the current build, it includes two sections: Frequent folders and Recent files. Users who care about their privacy might not be happy with this feature of the File Explorer app. There are two solutions for these users. The first one is to open This PC instead of Quick Access in Windows 10 as we covered previously. The second is to clear recent files and frequent folders in Quick Access. Here’s how you can do that.

The Quick Access location in File Explorer is intended to replace the Recent files feature of the Start Menu in older versions of Windows. In Windows 10, there is no easy way to access the classic «Recent files» folder from anywhere else in the user interface except Quick Access. Every time the user needs to check out his recent file activity, he will have to open Explorer.

Windows 10 stores your recent items and frequent folders under the following location.

You can remove all its contents to clear your frequent folders and files. However, it is recommended to use the GUI instead as described below.

To clear Frequent Folders and Recent File in Windows 10, do the following.

1. Open This PC in File Explorer.
2. In the Ribbon user interface of Explorer, click File -> Change folder and search options.If you have disabled the Ribbon using a tool like Winaero Ribbon Disabler, press F10 -> click Tools menu — Folder Options.
3. Tip: you can add the Folder Options button to Quick Access Toolbar. See the following article: How to add any ribbon command to the Quick Access toolbar of File Explorer.
4. The Folder Options window will be opened at the General tab. Under Privacy, click on the Clear button. This will clear both the frequent folders and recent files lists.

Alternatively, you can use the Settings app.

Clear Frequent Folders and Recent Files using Settings

To clear Frequent folders and Recent files with Settings, do the following.

1. Open the Settings app.
2. Go to Personalization -> Start.
3. On the right, turn off the option Show recently opened items in Jump Lists on Start or the taskbar.
4. Turn on the option back.

This simple operation will clear jump lists along with Frequent folders and recent files.

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About Sergey Tkachenko

Sergey Tkachenko is a software developer from Russia 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.

2 thoughts on “ How To Clear Frequent Folders and Recent Files in Windows 10 ”

had me guessing this for ages… thanks for the clear and informative tutorial

Much quicker in Explorer to click the Recent folders icon in the sidebar and select “Clear recent items list.”