Privacy is very important when using our computers, it is for this reason that we have prepared this tutorial in which you will learn how to delete recent files in Windows 10 explorer.
Windows is storing little by little those files that we have recently opened on our computers. This can be beneficial in certain circumstances, however, it could also affect your privacy in the event that other users access your computer. In the following, we will show you the ways in which you can hide this information very easily.
What are Windows 10 Recent Files and Apps?
When we refer to recent files and applications in Windows 10 explorer, we talk about all those documents, such as images or videos that we have opened during our last uses, it is a kind of registry that the operating system carries.
This option is useful if you are the sole owner of the computer, as it will allow you to easily access those documents that you use constantly. Either way, it can represent a privacy problem if someone else uses the computer, since they will be able to see all the files they have recently opened.
This can be fixed by using alternatives to Windows Explorer , but you can also do a cleanup in conventional Explorer. Today we will talk about some ways to delete recent files from your browser, in this way you will protect your privacy from any intruder or person who uses your computer.
How to Delete Recent Files in Windows 10 Explorer
Actions such as reversing the file selection in Windows Explorer and hiding files that you have recently opened in Explorer are very important to know. In the same way we will teach you how to hide the frequent applications that appear at the beginning.
Hide recently opened files in the browser
If what you want is to disable the recent files that are located in the quick launch folder, you should know that it is quite simple, because by doing some settings you can correctly disable this function that on certain occasions can be annoying:
- For this I say what you must do is go to the folder options, go to any folder by opening the explorer.
- Now you must locate the “View” section that you can find at the top of the screen, press on it.
- On the right side of the screen there is the “Options” section, click there.
- Near the end you will find the “Privacy” window, there are two options which are “Show recently used files in quick access” and “Show frequently used folders in quick access”. You must disable both options.
Once you have made the previous configuration, all you have to do is click on the “OK” option .
By following the previous tutorial, you will be able to correctly disable the suggestions for recently opened files in Windows Explorer , making sure that no suggestions for previously opened files are displayed. On the other hand, it is also possible to delete the suggestions of the contacts application and many others in Windows.
Hide recently opened apps
There is another place where recently opened files and items are displayed , we are referring specifically to the Windows start menu. Observing recent files has its usefulness, in any case, it can also be annoying since it violates your privacy in a certain way. Even so, it is possible to properly disable this option, this can be done in the following way:
- The first thing to do is open the system configuration options, to do this type configuration at startup and click on that option.
- Once you are in the system configuration options, locate the “Personalization” section, click on it.
- On the left side of the screen are all the tabs that represent the changes you can make. Locate the “Start” section and click on it.
- As you can see, there are different options, the functions that interest us this time are “Show recently added applications”. “Show the most used applications”. “Show suggestions occasionally on startup”, finally “Show recently opened items in shortcut lists on startup or on the taskbar”, you can enable or disable these options as you see fit.
Once you have deactivated the options that we presented previously, nothing related to the frequent use of applications in Windows 10 will be displayed, thus managing to configure the privacy of Windows 10 if other users use the computer.
