Windows 10: Files which I have not used in years are showing up as recent documents in windows explorer

Hello,I opened my computer up this evening to find a number of files which I have not used in several years in some cases appearing in my recent files list in Windows explorer. I was on this computer just yesterday and there are about 35 items which show as having been used since then which I know I have not opened on any of my devices. They are all Word and Excel documents. I believe I opened my computer around 6:55 pm and there were a number of documents that were showing as having been opened between 6:50 and 6:55. Several more appeared in the list over the next 5 minutes. I opened som

:)

 

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.

 

Documents showing in recent when not opened

Hello Gooba31,



Greetings!



Thank you for posting in Microsoft Community.



It appears that some of the files shows in recent even if you have not access the files. Let us check and see on what we can do to help resolve your concern in a timely manner.

This issue may occur if the "Show recently used files in Quick access" option is enabled in File Explorer settings. To disable this option, please follow these steps:



1. Open File Explorer.

2. Click on the "View" tab in the ribbon.

3. Click on "Options" and then select "Change folder and search options".

4. In the "Privacy" section, uncheck the "Show recently used files in Quick access" option.

5. Click "Apply" and then "OK" to save the changes.



This should prevent the random documents from appearing in the recent list. If the issue persists, please let me know and we can explore other troubleshooting steps.

We look forward to your response. Kindly let us know, if there is any misunderstanding or clarifications of our description by sending us a reply.



Sincerely,

 

File Explorer crashes on Quick Access Recent files item

Hi Loreto,

Clearing recent files does indeed allow File Explorer to open but my client did as I suggested and left recent files turned off for a few days and then turned it back on. It worked for a while but then started crashing again.

Two users at the same site have now reported the same problem which suggests it's not an individual user doing something unusual. It is very possible that they are working on the same documents in the same project.

The kind of documents in there will be:

• Documents opened directly from SharePoint
• Documents opened from File Explorer viewing a SharePoint document library
• Documents opened from File Explorer using a mapped drive to a SharePoint document library
• Documents opened from Office 365 OneDrive

It's definitely a bug! Some threads have suggested bizarrely that it's linked to screen scaling?? And they do have a monitor and laptop screen with different scaling.

Cheers, Rob.