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Non-Excel Tip

Clearing Your Recent Documents List

As you know, Windows makes it easy to access files you have recently used by listing them in Start, Documents menu. However, there may be times when you don't want certain documents listed here for others to see. You can either clear the whole list or clear individual items in the list.

To clear all shortcuts from the Documents list:

  1. Click Start.
  2. Click Settings.
  3. Click Taskbar & Start Menu.
  4. Click the Start Menu Programs tab.
  5. Click the Clear button then OK.
To clear individual items from the Documents list:
  1. Click Start, Documents
  2. Right-click on the item in the list that you want removed and click Delete.
You can also go to the C:\Windows\Recent folder in Windows Explorer and choose which shortcuts to delete.

There's also another virtually unknown Recent folder for Microsoft Office documents in C:\Windows\Application Data\Microsoft\Office\ in Windows 98.

Depending on your operating system and if you have multiple user profiles on your computer, you may have to do a search to find these Recent folders. Click Start, Find, Files or Folders enter Recent and click Find Now.

(Note that these items are shortcuts and deleting them won't affect the original files)

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