Windows 10: cannot turn off recent files in start

Hi,


I wanted to turn of the recent files in the Start menu (e.g. when writing the name of an app, the recently opened files appear; since this last win10 update, when you click the arrow on the right of the app's name).


1) So I turned off jump lists (in Start > Settings > Personalisation > Start > show recently opened items... > OFF);


2) then I went to File Explorer > View > Options > Folder Options > General > and turned off "Show recently used files...", "Show frequently used folders...", and cleared the File Explorer history.


Then recent files in Start seemed to be gone, BUT as soon as I opened a couple of files (in this case with VLC and MS-Officce apps) the recent files list was back.


A couple extra notes:

a) Right clicking a recent file's name in Start and then "Remove from this list" removes all but one file (whatever file was the last to be "removed"), and in that last file the only thing that gets removed are the other options that appear when you right click; the last item remains there until opening another file (then, the un-removable file gets removed and replaced by this last file). Repeating the steps above does not remove these from the recent list.


b) Disabling the App's history (e.g. vlc) changes nothing.


c) the files in \Users\xxxxxxxxxx\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Office\Recent are not the same that appear in Start menu some_App's recent files (only those opened since steps 1) and 2) show up).


d) \Users\xxxxxxxxxxx\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Recent Items gets populated with folders and files after steps 1) and 2) are performed; manually deleting the entries does not remove then from Start menu recent files in some_App.

:)

 

Recent File List

that's all off already dude lol, I'm really surprised there is no fix for the recent files list/MRU in the file menu of programs haha

I appreciate the help, MS really needs to implement a Group Policy or a string that can do that for all programs installed

 

Recent File List

Remove-ItemProperty -Path "Registry::HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion
\Applets\Paint\Recent File List" -name file1

Remove-ItemProperty -Path "Registry::HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion
\Applets\Paint\Recent File List" -name file2
Remove-ItemProperty -Path "Registry::HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion
\Applets\Paint\Recent File List" -name file3
Remove-ItemProperty -Path "Registry::HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion
\Applets\Paint\Recent File List" -name file4
Remove-ItemProperty -Path "Registry::HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion
\Applets\Paint\Recent File List" -name file5
Remove-ItemProperty -Path "Registry::HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion
\Applets\Paint\Recent File List" -name file6
Remove-ItemProperty -Path "Registry::HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion
\Applets\Paint\Recent File List" -name file7
Remove-ItemProperty -Path "Registry::HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion
\Applets\Paint\Recent File List" -name file8
Remove-ItemProperty -Path "Registry::HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion
\Applets\Paint\Recent File List" -name file9
...

you get the idea. ( too lazy to put it in a for loop and test it.

or just open regedit and remove all the fileX from that key.

 

Recent File List

Sorry about that... how about these?

Recent Items - Turn On or Off

How to Disable Recent and Frequent Items from Showing on Windows 7 Taskbar Jump List Menu

 

So I put a solution up in the original forum, but whatever service copied that post here did not copy the answer (how does that work anyway?). So the solution I found was:


In Group Policy Editor (Win+R, "gpedit.msc") > User Configuration > Administrative Templates > Start Menu and Taskbar, I enabled "Do not keep history of recently opened documents" and "Remove Recent Items menu from Start Menu".

The \Users\xxxxxxxxxxx\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Recent_Items still gets populated with recent items, but only momentarily.

A few last items were resilient, but rebooting the system got rid of them.

Anyway, shouldn't this process be a lot easier? If I didn't have windows pro to access the gpedit option, I really would have to go with slozomby's suggestion. It seems getting grid of file history is beyond >95% of windows users.

Cheers,