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Clear and Disable the Recent List in Office 2013/2016 Applications

< 1 minute read

Product Page Patterns 17

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:

  1. From the File tab, click Options.
  2. Select Advanced.
  3. In the Display section, change the value of Show this number of Recent Documents/Workbooks/Presentations to 0.
  4. Click OK.

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