To delete the most recently used files list in Microsoft Office XP or in Microsoft Office 2003, follow these steps: Start the program that you want to modify. On the Tools menu, click Options. On the General tab, click to clear the Recently used file list check box, and then click OK. Steve: Arigatou gozaimasu!!! Thanks so much for your effortless and foolproof way of emptying my Mac Word Recent files list. After retiring 3 years ago I was left with many, many dozens of old useless listings and I didn’t want to remove them all one by one (and a pox on Microsoft for that lack of foresight!!).
Office 2013/2016 stores your most recently used files and displays them in a list that you’ll see when you open your program (if you haven’t disabled or removed the start screen) or when you select Open from the File tab.
The Recent list can be useful if you’re opening and closing the same files repeatedly, or your file is located in a complicated location. But the list can cease to be useful if you see a lot of files that you no longer need to access, or if you’re sharing your PC and want a little more privacy. If this is the case, it’s easy to clear and disable the list.
Follow the steps in the video above, or:
- From the File tab, click Options.
- Select Advanced.
- In the Display section, change the value of Show this number of Recent Documents/Workbooks/Presentations to 0.
- Click OK.
When you open Microsoft Word, a list of recently opened documents appears on the left side of the screen. You can delete documents from this list or, if you prefer not to see recent documents, completely disable the list.
The list of recent documents also appears when you select the 'Open' option in Word and in the list of shortcuts for the Word taskbar button. Deleting the list deletes these documents from both locations in Word, but not in the list of skips. You will have to erase the jump list separately. Disabling the view of recent documents prevents them from appearing in any of these locations. Here's how to do it.
Clear the list of recent documents
Word 2016 For Mac Free
Clear recent paper listing is easy. Whether you are on the Word Start startup screen or on the 'Open' page when opening a document, right-click on a document in the list recent, then choose the option 'Erase detached documents'.
In the warning box that appears, click the 'Yes' button.
This clears all documents in the recent list that you have not pinned as favorite documents.
If you prefer, you can also select the 'Delete from list' option in this menu to delete only the document you clicked with the right mouse button.
Microsoft Word Mac Clear Recent Documents
Disable the list of recent documents
The complete deactivation of the list of recent documents is also quite simple. If you are on the Word Start screen, click on the 'Open Other Documents' link at the bottom left.
Or, if you already have an open document, click on the 'File' menu.
Then, click on the 'Options' command down to the left.
In the 'Word Options' menu, go to the 'Advanced' tab.
On the right, scroll to the 'Display' section. Disable the display of recent documents by setting the 'Show this number of recent documents' option to zero, then click the 'OK' button.
Now when you open Word (or use the 'Open' command in the application), the Recent Documents list must be empty. You should no longer see the recent document listed on the jumplist for the taskbar button.
How To Clear Recent Documents In Word 2016 Mac
If you want to re-enable the display of recent documents in the future, return to the same 'Word Options' window and set the number of recent documents you want to display. 50 is the default setting, but you can choose any number between 0 and 50. Just note that when you re-enable the recent document view, all previously viewed documents will be displayed at new.