{"id":142630,"date":"2024-11-19T00:01:32","date_gmt":"2024-11-19T05:01:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/davescomputertips.com\/?p=142630"},"modified":"2024-11-19T00:01:32","modified_gmt":"2024-11-19T05:01:32","slug":"how-to-clear-recently-accessed-files-folders-list","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/davescomputertips.com\/how-to-clear-recently-accessed-files-folders-list\/","title":{"rendered":"How To Clear Recently Accessed Files\/Folders List"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"daves-3803136554\" class=\"daves-single-post-before-content daves-entity-placement\" style=\"margin-bottom: 25px;\"><script async src=\"\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-7205184075006101\" crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script><ins class=\"adsbygoogle\" style=\"display:block;\" data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-7205184075006101\" \ndata-ad-slot=\"2700504761\" \ndata-ad-format=\"auto\" data-full-width-responsive=\"false\"><\/ins>\n<script> \n(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); \n<\/script>\n<\/div><p>This article relates to both Windows 10 and Windows 11 and refers to the list of recently accessed files and\/or folders maintained in File Explorer.<\/p>\n<p>File Explorer maintains a record of all accessed files and folders, which accumulates over time until the list becomes very lengthy. For some users, this can create a privacy issue.<\/p>\n<p>For example, if you share a &#8220;family&#8221; PC, use a PC at work, or in any situation where privacy is paramount &#8211; as in you don&#8217;t want others to see what files\/folders you&#8217;ve been accessing &#8211; you can easily and quickly clear those items from File Explorer&#8217;s history.<\/p>\n<p>If you want to check that list, do this:<\/p><div id=\"daves-756240066\" class=\"daves-single-post-in-content daves-entity-placement\" style=\"margin-bottom: 25px;\"><script async src=\"\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-7205184075006101\" crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script><ins class=\"adsbygoogle\" style=\"display:block;\" data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-7205184075006101\" \ndata-ad-slot=\"2700504761\" \ndata-ad-format=\"auto\" data-full-width-responsive=\"false\"><\/ins>\n<script> \n(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); \n<\/script>\n<\/div>\n<ul>\n<li>Open a Run command (press the <strong>Windows Key<\/strong> + <strong>R<\/strong>)<\/li>\n<li>Type <strong>recent<\/strong> into the Run dialogue box and hit Enter<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>If you&#8217;re regularly using something like PrivaZer to clean the system that list could be quite short. However, if you&#8217;re not performing regular maintenance, you might be shocked at the result.<\/p>\n<h2>Clear List Of Recently Accessed Files\/Folders<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Open a Run command (press the <strong>Windows key<\/strong> + <strong>R<\/strong>)<\/li>\n<li>Type <strong>control folders<\/strong> into the Run dialogue box and press Enter<\/li>\n<li>In the File Explorer window that opens, go to &#8220;Clear File Explorer history&#8221; under &#8220;Privacy&#8221; and click the <strong>Clear<\/strong> button:<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>(<\/strong><em><strong>Windows 10)<\/strong><br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/davescomputertips.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/Windows-10-Clear-Explorer-History.png\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-142632\" src=\"https:\/\/davescomputertips.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/Windows-10-Clear-Explorer-History.png\" alt=\"windows-10-clear-explorer-history\" width=\"388\" height=\"481\" srcset=\"https:\/\/davescomputertips.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/Windows-10-Clear-Explorer-History.png 388w, https:\/\/davescomputertips.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/Windows-10-Clear-Explorer-History-323x400.png 323w, https:\/\/davescomputertips.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/Windows-10-Clear-Explorer-History-121x150.png 121w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 388px) 100vw, 388px\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n<\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong>(<em>Windows 11<\/em>)<\/strong><br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/davescomputertips.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/Windows-11-Clear-Explorer-History.png\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-142633\" src=\"https:\/\/davescomputertips.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/Windows-11-Clear-Explorer-History.png\" alt=\"windows-11-clear-file-explorer-history\" width=\"388\" height=\"481\" srcset=\"https:\/\/davescomputertips.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/Windows-11-Clear-Explorer-History.png 388w, https:\/\/davescomputertips.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/Windows-11-Clear-Explorer-History-323x400.png 323w, https:\/\/davescomputertips.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/Windows-11-Clear-Explorer-History-121x150.png 121w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 388px) 100vw, 388px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em><strong>NOTE<\/strong>: This action will also clear shortcuts to recently accessed files\/folders from the &#8220;Quick Access&#8221; listing<\/em><\/p><div id=\"daves-3605451177\" class=\"daves-single-post-in-content-2 daves-entity-placement\" style=\"margin-bottom: 25px;\"><script async src=\"\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-7205184075006101\" crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script><ins class=\"adsbygoogle\" style=\"display:block;\" data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-7205184075006101\" \ndata-ad-slot=\"2700504761\" \ndata-ad-format=\"auto\" data-full-width-responsive=\"false\"><\/ins>\n<script> \n(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); \n<\/script>\n<\/div>\n<p><strong>BOTTOM LINE<\/strong>:<\/p>\n<p>As I mentioned earlier, this is purely a privacy concern. In my case, as a single user and the only one who ever accesses my PC, it is not so much of a concern. I also regularly clean the system using PrivaZer which helps keep that list under control.<\/p>\n<p>However, if you&#8217;re in a situation where privacy is a concern, you now know how to clear those references in File Explorer to all the files and folders you&#8217;ve accessed.<\/p>\n<p>&#8212;<\/p><div id=\"daves-710278185\" class=\"daves-single-post-in-content-3 daves-entity-placement\" style=\"margin-bottom: 25px;\"><script async src=\"\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-7205184075006101\" crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script><ins class=\"adsbygoogle\" style=\"display:block;\" data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-7205184075006101\" \ndata-ad-slot=\"2700504761\" \ndata-ad-format=\"auto\" data-full-width-responsive=\"false\"><\/ins>\n<script> \n(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); \n<\/script>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"daves-1458280855\" class=\"daves-after-content daves-entity-placement\"><script async src=\"\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-7205184075006101\" crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script><ins class=\"adsbygoogle\" style=\"display:block;\" data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-7205184075006101\" \ndata-ad-slot=\"3225321574\" \ndata-ad-format=\"autorelaxed\" data-full-width-responsive=\"false\"><\/ins>\n<script> \n(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); \n<\/script>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This article relates to both Windows 10 and Windows 11 and refers to the list of recently accessed files and\/or folders maintained in File Explorer. File Explorer maintains a record of all accessed files and folders, which accumulates over time until the list becomes very [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":142637,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"default","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"default","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"set","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[17,4293,10797],"tags":[13914,3686],"class_list":["post-142630","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-how","category-win10","category-win11","tag-clear-history","tag-file-explorer"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/davescomputertips.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/142630","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/davescomputertips.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/davescomputertips.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/davescomputertips.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/davescomputertips.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=142630"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/davescomputertips.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/142630\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/davescomputertips.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/142637"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/davescomputertips.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=142630"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/davescomputertips.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=142630"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/davescomputertips.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=142630"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}