By default, Windows XP displays a menu entitled “Recent Documents” in the Start menu.

This list of recently accessed files can be viewed by anyone using your computer, which can make for some uncomfortable circumstances when others sit down at your desktop.

Keep your files more private by turning that list off.

There are 2 ways to turn this list off. The first uses menu options, the second uses the registry editor.

Here is how you turn off the Recent Documents display in Windows:

  1. Right-click Start, and then click Properties
  2. Click Customize
  3. Click the Advanced tab
  4. Under Recent documents, uncheck “List my most recently opened documents”
  5. Click OK, and then click OK again.

Voila- the list is now gone!

You can accomplish the same by editing the registry using the Registry Editor.

Here is how you turn off the Recent Documents display in Windows, using the registry editor:

  • Open the registry editor
  • Navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Software \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Explorer \ Advanced
  • Set the value of “Start_ShowRecentDocs” to one of the following values:
    Value of 0 – List my most recently opened documents is disabled
    Value of 2 – List my most recently opened documents is enabled