Windows 10: Can't unpin excel jump list file from the start menu

So what is the purpose of the recent items folder?
Where are those shortcut files, folders used?

 

I got excel pin to my start menu
and also some jump list files

e.g.

ABC.xls

But when I tried to unpin it, it will not unpin.

I have also tried to delete the file and then click on that file in the jumplist so it prompts me to delete the short cut
but that does not work either.

:)

 

Start Apps not in Most Used - Windows 10

I experimented. I made a fresh install of Windows 10 1511 with Office 2016. I used Excel several times without it its icon pinned to the Start Menu, and its icon appeared in the "Most used" list with a jump list. I right clicked the icon and chose "Pin
to Start" and the "Most used" icon immediately disappeared. When I right clicked the Excel tile in Start Menu and chose "Unpin from Start," the icon immediately reappeared in the "Most used" list.

I could not do this experiment on my main computer, because a different problem had caused my "Excel 2016" icon to permanently and irreversibly disappear from the "All apps" list in Start Menu.

BTW, I did have "Show recently opened items in Jump Lists on Start or the taskbar" turned on.

Moderator, please mark this as the answer.

 

On upgrade to Windows 10 1607, jump list arrows no longer appear on start menu items

Jump lists are turned on in settings, but they only appear in items on the taskbar. Jump list arrows do not appear next to "most used" apps in the Start menu. This is a major annoyance, because I like to launch my Excel and Word files from the start menu,
and now the jump lists are only usable in the taskbar, which means I have to pin a bunch of stuff to the taskbar to have jump lists.

Is there a simple way to get jump lists active again on the Start menu?

 

The same jumplist shows wherever you right-click on Excel (or any other app that has a jumplist) be that on a tile in Start, pinned to the taskbar or in Start's 'all apps' list.

Right-click on any file name in the jumplist (like your ABC.xls) and you should see options to 'Pin to this list' and 'Remove from this list'. If the file is pinned to the list, you have to unpin it first before you can remove it from the list.







*Arrow Pin or Unpin Items on Jump Lists in Windows 10

If that isn't working for you, then it sounds like you'll need to reset the recent items that jumplists show. This will reset ALL jumplists, not just the Excel one, so only reset it if nothing else works.

*Arrow Reset and Clear Recent Items and Frequent Places in Windows 10

 

Thanks.

Solution 1, I already tried (prior to making this thread) to unpin and it didn't work.

Solution 2, I used the batch file to clear the recent items and it works.
It got rid of the trouble jumplist file.

The biggest downside is all my pin items / quick access / jumplists are gone.

 

Jumplists can sometimes get corrupted, the only practical solution is to delete them, I'm afraid *Sad

All Jumplists are held in...
C:\Users\<user-name>\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Recent\AutomaticDestinations
...and in theory you just need to delete the corrupt one(s), but it's an almost impossible task to identify which one that is, they all have cryptic names like: 5f7b5f1e01b83767.automaticDestinations-ms

Best to clear them all in case more than one is corrupt.

 

Yeah if I look into this folder I can see the cryptic names.

How does that differ to the folder one level above ie. C:\Users\[redacted]\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Recent?
In this folder I can clearly see all the files and folder's names

The AutomaticDestinations folder is hidden if we browse the Recent Items folder
Is there any other hidden folders in there?

Yeah the price to pay to get rid of that one corrupt jumplist is quite high.

I now need to repin all my fav folders, quick access and files which is time consuming.
Not sure if it is worth the price to do it again.

Microsoft needs to fix this bug.

 

There's nothing there that links those shortcuts to the jumplist for the app that opens them, that the job of the files in the AutomaticDestinations folder.