Quick fix: Open File Explorer, click the three-dot menu in the toolbar, choose Options, and uncheck both Show recently used files and Show frequently used folders. Click Clear next to Clear File Explorer history to wipe the existing list. The change is per-user and survives sign-out.

Quick Access in File Explorer shows recently used files at the bottom. On a shared computer, this is a privacy leak — the next person to sign in sees their own list, but anyone watching over their shoulder during a single session sees previous files. For PCs where multiple people use a single Windows user, or where privacy matters even on a personal account, turning off the Recent Files list is the right move.

Symptom: Quick Access shows recent files when you don’t want that history visible.
Affects: Windows 11 with File Explorer Quick Access enabled.
Fix time: 5 minutes.

What Quick Access tracks

Quick Access maintains two lists. Frequent folders shows folders you’ve opened often, ranked by frequency. Recent files shows the last ~20 files you’ve opened, regardless of source app. Both lists are per-user, stored in %AppData%\Microsoft\Windows\Recent\AutomaticDestinations. They’re populated by every app that opens files through the common dialog — Notepad, browsers, Office, even some games.

Turning off the visible list doesn’t delete the underlying tracking files — just hides them from Quick Access. To stop tracking entirely, you also disable the recent items service.

Method 1: Toggle off via Folder Options

Open File Explorer.
Click the three-dot menu in the toolbar (next to the View dropdown). Choose Options.
On the General tab, scroll to Privacy.
Uncheck Show recently used files in Quick access.
Uncheck Show frequently used folders in Quick access.
Click Clear next to Clear File Explorer history. This wipes the current list.
Click OK.

Quick Access now shows only pinned items. New file opens don’t populate the list.

Method 2: Disable the recent items tracking service

Method 1 hides the list. To stop tracking at all (so even tools that read the AutomaticDestinations files can’t see history), disable the tracker itself.

Press Win + R, type regedit, press Enter.
Navigate to HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer.
Create a DWORD named NoRecentDocsHistory and set its value to 1.
For an existing tracking suppress, also set NoRecentDocsMenu to 1.
Sign out and back in for the change to take effect.

After this, no file opens are recorded. %AppData%\Microsoft\Windows\Recent\ stops growing. Apps that depend on recent-files (like “Recent” in Word) still work because Office maintains its own internal list separately.

Method 3: Group Policy for managed Pro/Enterprise machines

Open gpedit.msc.
Navigate to User Configuration → Administrative Templates → Windows Components → File Explorer.
Open Do not display the User Profile UI (actually look for Turn off the display of recent documents) and set to Enabled.
Open Do not keep history of recently opened documents and set to Enabled.
Open Clear history of recently opened documents on exit and set to Enabled.
Run gpupdate /force. Sign out and back in.

For shared workstations and computer labs, this is the right path — the policy applies to every user who signs in, and they can’t override it.

How to verify the fix worked

Open File Explorer. Quick Access shows only pinned items; no Recent files section.
Open a few files (Notepad, Edge downloads). Recheck Quick Access — no new entries.
Navigate to %AppData%\Microsoft\Windows\Recent. The folder is empty (or stops growing).
Open another user’s Quick Access (sign in as them); same configuration applies if you used Method 3.

If none of these work

If recent files keep appearing in Quick Access, an app like OneDrive or a cloud sync service may be re-populating them through its own recent-files surfacing. Open OneDrive’s settings → Sync and backup → uncheck any “Suggest content from your OneDrive in File Explorer” option. For tenants with Microsoft 365 enterprise plans, the policy Apps suggestion in Microsoft Entra may also push recent items even if local settings disable them — coordinate with IT to disable the tenant-level option.

Bottom line: Disabling Quick Access recent files is two checkboxes for local hide, plus a registry value or GPO for full tracking suppression. Pick the depth that matches your privacy need.