How to Hide Recently Accessed Files and Folders in the

This practical guide walks through how to hide recently accessed files and folders in the, explains the main requirements, and highlights common issues that may appear along the way.

Overall, this is a pretty useful feature, allowing you to quickly access your familiar folders from the Start menu. However, showing such details of recently accessed files and folders can also compromise privacy in some cases. Here's how to turn it off.

First, open the Settings menu by clicking the gear icon in the Start menu or pressing the Windows + i key combination .

In the Settings window, look to the list of options on the left and click on ' Personalization '. A list of corresponding options will show up on the right, scroll down and select ' Start '.

In the ' Start ' settings, tap the switch to the right of ' Show recently opened items in Start, Jump lists, and File Explorer ' to switch it back to ' Off '.

Now close the Settings window. The next time you open the Start menu, you will no longer see your list of recent files displayed in the ' Recommended ' section.