Do not keep history of recently opened documents

Supported OS tags: Windows10, Windows10RT, Windows11, Windows2000, Windows7, Windows8, Windows81, WindowsRT, WindowsRT81, WindowsServer2003, WindowsServer2008, WindowsServer2012, WindowsServer2012R2, WindowsServer2016, WindowsVista, WindowsXP

Prevents the operating system and installed programs from creating and displaying shortcuts to recently opened documents. If you enable this setting, the system and Windows programs do not create shortcuts to documents opened while the setting is in effect. Also, they retain but do not display existing document shortcuts. The system empties the Recent Items menu on the Start menu, and Windows programs do not display shortcuts at the bottom of the File menu. In addition, the Jump Lists off of programs in the Start Menu and Taskbar do not show lists of recently or frequently used files, folders, or websites. If you disable or do not configure this setting, the system will store and display shortcuts to recently and frequently used files, folders, and websites. Note: The system saves document shortcuts in the user profile in the System-drive\Users\User-name\Recent folder. Also, see the "Remove Recent Items menu from Start Menu" and "Clear history of recently opened documents on exit" policies in this folder. If you enable this setting but do not enable the "Remove Recent Items menu from Start Menu" setting, the Recent Items menu appears on the Start menu, but it is empty. If you enable this setting, but then later disable it or set it to Not Configured, the document shortcuts saved before the setting was enabled reappear in the Recent Items menu and program File menus, and Jump Lists. This setting does not hide or prevent the user from pinning files, folders, or websites to the Jump Lists. See the "Do not allow pinning items in Jump Lists" setting. This policy also does not hide Tasks that the application has provided for their Jump List. This setting does not hide document shortcuts displayed in the Open dialog box. See the "Hide the dropdown list of recent files" setting. Note: It is a requirement for third-party applications with Windows 2000 or later certification to adhere to this setting.

This policy has no additional user input fields.

• User
  Add "Run in Separate Memory Space" check box to Run dialog box

  At least Windows 2000
• User
  Add Logoff to the Start Menu

  Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2003, Windows Vista, Windows XP, and Windows 2000
• User
  Add Search Internet link to Start Menu

  Windows Server 2008 R2 and Windows 7
• User
  Add the Run command to the Start Menu

  Windows Server 2008, Windows 7, and Windows Vista
• User
  Change Start Menu power button

  Windows Server 2008 R2 and Windows 7
• User
  Clear history of recently opened documents on exit

  At least Windows 2000
• User
  Clear the recent programs list for new users

  Windows Server 2008, Windows 7, Windows Vista, and Windows 10
• User
  Clear tile notifications during log on

  At least Windows Server 2012, Windows 8 or Windows RT
• Computer
  Configure Start Pins

  At least Windows 11 Version 24H2
• User
  Configure Start Pins

  At least Windows 11 Version 24H2
• User
  Configure Taskbar Small Button Behavior

  At least Windows 11 Pro, Enterprise, or Education with Windows Sandbox
• Computer
  Configure Taskbar Small Button Behavior

  At least Windows 11 Pro, Enterprise, or Education with Windows Sandbox