How to delete folder and file search history in Windows Explorer?

On Windows operating systems (Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 10), Windows Explorer remembers the location of files and folders when you type in the address bar on Windows Explorer. The files and folders when you enter will be displayed automatically accessible by clicking the down arrow at the end of the address bar to drop down the list.

How to delete folder and file access history in Windows Explorer is quite simple. In the following article, Network Administrator will show you 3 ways to delete folder and file access history in Windows Explorer.

Note: In the article, guide you to delete File Explorer history on Windows 10. You do the same thing on Windows 7 and Windows 8.

1. Delete directly on File Explorer

The best way to delete folder and file access history in Windows Explorer is to delete directly on File Explorer. To do this, first press the Win + E key combination to open File Explorer.

After the File Explorer window appears, right-click the address bar and select Delete History .

At this time on the screen, all File Explorer history has been deleted.To be sure, you can click your mouse on the down arrow at the end of the address bar to drop down the list.

2. Delete on Folder Options

To delete folder and file access history in Windows Explorer, in addition to deleting directly on File Explorer you can use Folder Options.

First open File Explorer by pressing the Win + E key combination, then select the Options option in the View tab.

After the Folder Options window appears, click Clear to clear the entire folder and file access history in File Explorer quickly.

If you don't want File Explorer to store recent folder and file access history, you uncheck both Show recently used files in Quick access and Show frequently used folder in Quick access in the Privacy section.

Finally click OK to save the changes.

3. Use the Registry

In addition to the above two ways, you can use the Registry to delete the history of accessing folders and files on File Explorer.

First press the Win + R key combination to open the Run window. Then type regedit in the Run window and press Enter .

After the Registry window appears, look for the address:

HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionExplorerTypedPaths

Now on the screen, the Registry window will display the history of folder access and files as URLs. To delete individual URLs, right-click those URLs and then select Delete .

A warning message will appear on the screen to confirm whether you want to delete the URLs. Click Yes to delete URLs.

If you want to delete the entire folder and file access history on File Explorer, you can select all URLs (except Default ) by holding down the Ctrl key and clicking on the URLs, then right-click and choose Delete .

You can refer to some of the following articles:

1. Start Windows 10 "as fast as the wind" with Fast Startup

2. 4 Ways to Reset Windows to its original state

3. Why use copyrighted Windows?

Good luck!