This tutorial will show you how to enable or disable showing recently opened items for your account or all users in Windows 11.
Your recently opened items will show in Start menu Recommended section, Jump Lists, and File Explorer by default in Windows 11.
Recently opened items are stored in the %APPDATA%\Microsoft\Windows\Recent Items folder for the current user.
Contents
- Option One: Turn On or Off "Show recently opened items in Start, Jump Lists, and File Explorer" for Current User in Settings
- Option Two: Turn On or Off "Show recently opened items in Start, Jump Lists, and File Explorer" for Current User using REG file
- Option Three: Enable or Disable "Show recently opened items in Start, Jump Lists, and File Explorer" for All Users in Local Group Policy Editor
- Option Four: Enable or Disable "Show recently opened items in Start, Jump Lists, and File Explorer" for All Users using REG file
EXAMPLE: Recently opened items in Start, Jump Lists, and File Explorer
Turn On or Off "Show recently opened items in Start, Jump Lists, and File Explorer" for Current User in Settings
1 Open Settings (Win+I).
2 Click/tap on Personalization on the left side, and click/tap on Start on the right side. (see screenshot below)
3 Perform an available option below: (see screenshots below)
- (OLD) Turn On (default) or Off Show recently opened items in Start, Jump Lists, and File Explorer for what you want.
- (NEW) Turn On (default) or Off Show recommended files in Start, recent files in File Explorer, and items in Jump Lists for what you want.
Turning off this setting will clear your recent items list.
4 You can now close Settings if you like.
Turn On or Off "Show recently opened items in Start, Jump Lists, and File Explorer" for Current User using REG file
1 Do step 2 (on) or step 3 (off) below for what you want.
2 To Turn On "Show recently opened items in Start, Jump Lists, and File Explorer" for Current User
This is the default setting.
A) Click/tap on the Download button below to download the file below, and go to step 4 below.
Turn_On_Show_recently_opened_items_in_Start_Jump-Lists_File_Explorer.reg
Download
(Contents of REG file for reference)
Code:
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced]
"Start_TrackDocs"=dword:000000013 To Turn Off "Show recently opened items in Start, Jump Lists, and File Explorer" for Current User
Turning off Show recently opened items in Start, Jump Lists, and File Explorer will clear your recent items list.
A) Click/tap on the Download button below to download the file below, and go to step 4 below.
Turn_Off_Show_recently_opened_items_in_Start_Jump-Lists_File_Explorer.reg
Download
(Contents of REG file for reference)
Code:
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced]
"Start_TrackDocs"=dword:000000004 Save the .reg file to your desktop.
5 Double click/tap on the downloaded .reg file to merge it.
6 When prompted, click/tap on Run, Yes (UAC), Yes, and OK to approve the merge.
7 You can now delete the downloaded .reg file if you like.
Enable or Disable "Show recently opened items in Start, Jump Lists, and File Explorer" for All Users in Local Group Policy Editor
You must be signed in as an administrator to use this option.
The Local Group Policy Editor is only available in the Windows 11 Pro, Enterprise, and Education editions.
All editions can use Option Four.
1 Open the Local Group Policy Editor (gpedit.msc).
2 Navigate to the key below in the left pane of the Local Group Policy Editor. (see screenshot below)
Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Start Menu and Taskbar
3 In the right pane of Start Menu and Taskbar in the Local Group Policy Editor, double click/tap on the Do not keep history of recently opened documents policy to edit it. (see screenshot above)
4 Do step 5 (enable) or step 6 (disable) below for what you would like to do.
5 To Enable "Show recently opened items in Start, Jump Lists, and File Explorer" for All Users
This is the default setting to allow users to use Option One and Option Two.
A) Select (dot) Not Configured, click/tap on OK, and go to step 7 below. (see screenshot below)
6 To Disable "Show recently opened items in Start, Jump Lists, and File Explorer" for All Users
This will disable and prevent users from using Option One and Option Two.
A) Select (dot) Enabled, click/tap on OK, and go to step 7 below. (see screenshot below)
7 You can now close the Local Group Policy Editor if you like.
Enable or Disable "Show recently opened items in Start, Jump Lists, and File Explorer" for All Users using REG file
You must be signed in as an administrator to use this option.
1 Do step 2 (enable) or step 3 (disable) below for what you would like to do.
2. To Enable "Show recently opened items in Start, Jump Lists, and File Explorer" for All Users
This is the default setting to allow users to use Option One and Option Two.
A) Click/tap on the Download button below to download the file below, and go to step 4 below.
Enable_Show_recently_opened_items_in_Start_Jump-Lists_File_Explorer_for_all_users.reg
Download
(Contents of REG file for reference)
Code:
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer]
"NoRecentDocsHistory"=-
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer]
"NoRecentDocsHistory"=- 3. To Disable "Show recently opened items in Start, Jump Lists, and File Explorer" for All Users
This will disable and prevent users from using Option One and Option Two.
A) Click/tap on the Download button below to download the file below, and go to step 4 below.
Disable_Show_recently_opened_items_in_Start_Jump-Lists_File_Explorer_for_all_users.reg
Download
(Contents of REG file for reference)
Code:
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer]
"NoRecentDocsHistory"=dword:000000014 Save the .reg file to your desktop.
5 Double click/tap on the downloaded .reg file to merge it.
6 When prompted, click/tap on Run, Yes (UAC), Yes, and OK to approve the merge.
7 You could now delete the downloaded .reg file if you like.
That's it,
Shawn Brink
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