Disabling the Recently Opened Files in Windows 10
The Windows 10 operating system comes with a user-friendly interface as well as better security features compared to its previous versions. One of these new features is the “Recently Opened Files” feature which displays all the files you’ve opened recently in File Explorer. Although it might seem useful, some users see this as a privacy concern especially if there are other users that use the same computer. If you are one of these users, read on as this post will guide you on how you can disable the “Recently Opened Files” feature in Windows 10.
There are three ways you can disable the “Recently Opened Files” feature. You can manually clear the recent files, or disable the feature via Control Panel. You can also do it using the Group Policy Editor.
Option 1 – Manually clear the recent files
The first thing you can do is to clear the recent files manually. Since the information about the recently opened files is stored in the form of cached data, you can locate this data and delete it manually, from time to time. To do that, follow these steps:
- Tap the Win + R keys to open the Run utility and copy this address in the field: %AppData%MicrosoftWindowsRecent
- Next, tap the Ctrl + A keys to select all the items and then tap the Shift + Delete keys simultaneously.
- After that, a prompt will appear where you have to click on Yes. This will delete all the recently opened files in the File Explorer the next time you open it.
Option 2 – Disable the feature via Control Panel
The next option you can try to disable the feature is via Control Panel. Refer to these steps to do so:
- First, click on the Start Menu button and select the Settings icon.
- After that, click on Personalization and then on Start located on the left pane.
- Next, scroll down until you see the “Show recently opened items” in Jump Lists on the Start or the Taskbar and click on it and then toggle it off.
Option 3 – Disable the feature using the Group Policy Editor
If you are using the Windows 10 Pro version, then you have access to edit the functions in the Group Policy. The Group Policy function has the option that can disable all the default services of Windows 10. Note that in this step, you will permanently disable the “Recently Opened Files” feature. So before you proceed, make sure that you really want to disable this feature permanently and not in the meantime.
- Tap the Win + R keys to open the Run dialog box and type “gpedit.msc” in the field and click OK or tap Enter to open the Group Policy Editor.
- Next, on the left side pane, click on the “User Configuration” option and then click the “Administrative Templates” option.
- After that, select the “Start Menu and Taskbar” option and select the “Don’t keep the history of recently opened documents” option in the right pane.
- Now double click on this option and check the “Enabled” option and then click on Apply and OK buttons to save the changes made.
Congratulations, you have just Disabled the Recently Opened Files in Windows 10 all by yourself. If you would like to read more helpful articles and tips about various software and hardware visit errortools.com daily.
Now that’s how you Disable the Recently Opened Files in Windows 10 on a computer. On the other hand, if your computer is going through some system-related issues that have to get fixed, there is a one-click solution known as Restoro you could check out to resolve them.
This program is a useful tool that could repair corrupted registries and optimize your PC’s overall performance. Aside from that, it also cleans out your computer for any junk or corrupted files that help you eliminate any unwanted files from your system. This is basically a solution that’s within your grasp with just a click. It’s easy to use as it is user-friendly. For a complete set of instructions in downloading and using it, refer to the steps below
Perform a full system scan using Restoro. To do so, follow the instructions below.
