How to Hide Recent Files in Windows 11 File Explorer

Managing Quick Access Items Manually in Windows

If you’re like me, you probably use Windows every day and have noticed that Quick Access can be a bit of a double-edged sword. On one hand, it’s really convenient—your most-used files and folders appear at the top without any fuss. But if you want to keep things private or just prefer a cleaner look, it can be a nuisance. Especially since Windows tends to keep adding recent items even if you’d rather it didn’t. I’ve been there—playing around with settings, rebooting, and sometimes giving up for a while. Turns out, you can control this, but the options aren’t exactly front and centre—you might need to dig a little.

Disabling Recent Files and Folders in Windows

Honestly, there’s no single toggle in Settings for this. Windows hides this feature in some pretty deep menus, so I had a bit of trial and error to find the right spot. The main goal is to stop Windows from automatically displaying your recent files and folders in Quick Access—whether that’s in File Explorer or on the start page in Windows 11. The key lies in Folder Options, which can be found within File Explorer.

How to Prevent Windows from Adding Files to Quick Access

This approach finally did the trick for me. But heads up—you might need to run some steps as an administrator or restart your File Explorer afterwards. Why? Because Windows can be quite stubborn with these settings, and updates might reset them. Here’s how I did it:

Open File Explorer

First off, press Windows key + E. Easy, right? If that doesn’t work, right-click the Start button and select File Explorer. On some older PCs, the menu might look a bit different, but both methods will get you there.

Access Folder Options

Look at the top of the File Explorer window—you should see a row of icons or menus, sometimes represented by three dots (…) or under the View tab. In newer builds, it’s often tucked inside the ribbon or under the kebab icon (those three vertical dots). It can be a bit inconsistent, but your goal is to find the Options button—sometimes called Folder Options.

If clicking around seems tedious, or you want to save time, simply type control.exe folders into the Run dialog (Windows key + R) or PowerShell. That opens the Folder Options window instantly.

Change Privacy Settings

In the Folder Options window, switch to the General tab. That’s usually the default. Look for the section called Privacy. Here, you’ll see checkboxes labelled Show recently used files in Quick access and Show frequently used folders in Quick access. Unchecking these should prevent Windows from tracking your recent activity in Quick Access.

Here’s the tricky bit—sometimes these boxes are already unchecked, but recent items still appear. That’s because Windows can cache or override these settings, especially after updates or if certain policies are in place. Still, it’s your main control point. I recommend toggling these off, then clicking Apply and OK. After that, I like to restart File Explorer—just to be sure—by opening Task Manager (Ctrl + Shift + Esc), finding Windows Explorer in the list, right-clicking, and selecting Restart. Alternatively, you can run taskkill /f /im explorer.exe followed by start explorer in PowerShell or Command Prompt.

Final Tips—Keeping It That Way

Once you’ve done this, ideally, Windows should stop showing recent files. But don’t be surprised if some still pop up—Windows can ignore your preferences after an update or due to group policies in work or school setups. To clear existing recent items, navigate to %appdata%\Microsoft\Windows\Recent\AutomaticDestinations and delete everything inside. This often clears out the cached recent files. Trust me, I’ve had to do this a few times when updates reappear old favourites.

The Caveats and Windows Quirks

Disabling recent files isn’t always a simple one-click fix. It’s often hidden, patchy, and can get reset by updates or policies. If your settings keep reverting, you might need to tweak the registry. For example, in HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced, keys like Start_TrackDocs or Start_RecentDocs can be set to 0 to turn off recent items. But be careful—editing the registry can cause issues if done incorrectly.

On some editions like Windows Home, the Group Policy Editor (gpedit.msc) isn’t accessible, so registry tweaks or third-party tools may be your only options. And beware—Windows sometimes re-enables recent items after updates, which can be a bit of a fight to keep them turned off.

Wrapping Up — What Works, and What’s a Bit of a Nuisance

To be honest, there’s no single toggle for this. Usually, you need to toggle options, restart Explorer, and clear cache files. If stubborn recent items keep showing up, try combining these steps with registry edits or policy tweaks. Just remember, Windows loves to re-enable this stuff after updates, so check your settings from time to time.