Today we have to figure out how to find recent documents on the computer. The point is that such an operation can be useful to everyone. For example, if a user suspects that someone is getting into his operating system and working on it without permission. Tracking your browsing history and opened/saved files is not the easiest thing to do. There are various ways to obtain information that interests the user. We will focus exclusively on files that have been recently opened, modified or saved.

Windows 7

How to find recent documents on a computer with Windows 7 on board? It is a popular and convenient operating system. Many PC users work with it. And therefore, let's start solving the problem with this operating system.

There is a folder here called "Recent Documents". It displays files that have been saved, opened or modified by the user. How to find recent documents on your computer?

To do this you will need:

  1. Login to Windows 7.
  2. Open "Start" - "Documents", or go to the menu item "Library" / "Explorer".
  3. Click on the line "Recent places" in the left menu at the top.

That's all. Information about recent files will appear on the right side of the dialog box. Fast, simple and very convenient!

Windows XP

How to find recent documents on a computer running Windows XP? This operating system is rarely seen in real life today. The software has not been supported by Microsoft for a long time, but some people still use it.

To access the folder with recent documents on Windows XP, you will have to use one of the following methods:

  1. Go to “Start” and open the “Search” section. Set the search options to "Show hidden files and folders". Find the Recent section and open it.
  2. Go to C:/Documents and Settings/UserName/Recent.
  3. The specified folder is the recent places. In order to find it, you will have to disable the function of hiding files and folders.

Important: when thinking about how to find recent documents, you can open the “Windows” search bar and write “Recent Places” in it. The search result will be the section we need.

Windows 8

Modern operating systems are similar in their functionality, but their graphical interface is always different. Sometimes he surprises. Significant changes in the OS graphics have occurred in Windows 8. After the "seven" it takes a long time to get used to the new execution of the software. In such circumstances, users often have questions about how to find recent documents on the computer. "Windows 8" stores the corresponding data in a folder already known to us - Recent. Only it, unlike Windows XP, has been moved to a different root partition.

How to find recent documents on the computer in this case? Windows 8 offers a solution to this problem:

  1. Open the command line and write shell:recent there. After processing the request, a dialog box with the data of interest to us will appear on the screen.
  2. Go to C:/Users/username/Appdata/Roaming/Microsoft/Windows/Recent.

You can also use the search bar and look for the Recent Places service there. As practice shows, this technique is used quite often by novice PC users. It does not require any special skills, knowledge or abilities.

Tip: To quickly access the Recent folder, you can create a shortcut to the corresponding document storage and display it on your PC desktop.

Windows 10

These are not all existing techniques. How to find recent documents on your computer in Windows 10? The tenth version of Windows is currently actively supported by Microsoft. This is the operating system that all modern PC users encounter. And therefore you need to understand how to work with it. Recent documents and changed files in Ten are searched in exactly the same way as in the case of Windows 8. If you wish, you can simplify your task by pinning the corresponding section in the library.

To do this you need:

  1. Go to the Recent (or “Recent Documents”) folder at the previously specified path.
  2. Click on the "Pin to Quick Access Toolbar" button. The corresponding control is at the top of the dialog box.

It is done. Now, when opening Explorer, the user will see a new line in the left menu. It's called "Recent Documents". With its help, you can quickly view the recently opened or modified files on your computer.

Last saved files

We were introduced to searching for recent documents in the Windows operating system. The instructions provided will help you cope with the task in any version of the software. But that's not all that every modern user should know about. Sometimes you have to search for the latest saved documents in various applications. For example, in Microsoft Office utilities or Photoshop. How can I get the relevant information? Naturally, find recent documents on the computer.

Instructions for searching for the latest saved files in a particular application generally look like this:

  1. Open the program you want to work with.
  2. Go to the "File" section. It is usually located in the upper left corner. Sometimes the corresponding item is called “Overview” or simply “Menu”.
  3. Look at the list that appears. If there is a drop-down menu expansion arrow at the bottom, you need to click on it.
  4. Carefully study the numbered list with addresses and files. These are the last saved/modified documents.

To open them, just click with the mouse cursor on one or another line. There is nothing difficult or incomprehensible. Some programs have separate sections such as "Recently Opened" or "Recently Saved". You can find them using the functional menu of a particular utility.

Conclusion

We figured out how to find recent documents on a computer in one case or another. The instructions provided will help you complete the task without much hassle. If you want to explore a list of recent browser downloads, you can open the library and go to the "Downloads" section. By setting the sorting options, the user will be able to see the information he is interested in.

Lists of open files and devices connected via USB, browser history, DNS cache - all this helps to find out what the user was doing. We have compiled step-by-step instructions on how to remove traces of your activities in different versions of Windows, Office and popular browsers. At the end of the article you will find several scripts that will help you automatically keep your machine clean.

1. Clear lists of recent places and programs

Let's start cleaning with lists of recent places and programs. The list of recent (in Windows 10 - frequently used) programs is in the main menu, and the list of recent places is in Explorer.


How to turn off this disgrace? In Windows 7, right-click on the “Start” button, select “Properties” and in the window that appears, uncheck both boxes in the “Privacy” section.

To clear the list of recent places and documents, you need to delete the contents of the %appdata%\Microsoft\Windows\Recent directory. To do this, open the command line and run two commands:

Cd %appdata%\Microsoft\Windows\Recent echo y | del *.*

It also wouldn't hurt to delete the contents of the %appdata%\microsoft\windows\recent\automaticdestinations\ directory. It stores the latest files that appear in the jump list:

Cd %appdata%\microsoft\windows\recent\automaticdestinations\ echo y | del *.*

To ensure that recent files are cleared automatically when you exit, you must enable the "Clear the history of recently opened documents on exit" policy, which is located in the "User Configuration\Administrative Templates\Start Menu and Taskbar" section.

Now let's move on to Windows 10. You can disable the list of recently added and frequently used applications through the Settings window. Open it and go to the “Personalization” section, “Start”. Turn off everything that is there.


It seems that the problem has been solved, but this, alas, is not entirely true. If you enable these parameters again, then all lists with the same composition will appear again. Therefore, you will have to disable this feature through Group Policy. Open gpedit.msc and go to User Configuration\Administrative Templates\Start Menu and Taskbar. Enable the following policies:

  • “Clearing the list of recently used programs for new users”;
  • “Clear history of recently opened documents on exit”;
  • “Clear notification log on tile when exiting”;
  • “Remove the list of programs pinned to the Start menu.”

Clearing recent places in Windows 10 is easier than in Windows 7. Open File Explorer, go to the View tab and click the Options button. In the window that appears, disable the “Show recently used files in the Quick Access Toolbar” and “Show frequently used folders in the Quick Access Toolbar” options. Don't forget to click the "Clear" button.

As you can see, such a simple task as cleaning up the last objects has a rather complicated solution. Without editing group policies - nowhere.

2. Clear the list of USB drives

At some sensitive facilities, only flash drives registered in the log are allowed to be connected to the computer. Moreover, as usual, the magazine is the most ordinary one - paper. That is, the computer itself does not in any way restrict the connection of unregistered drives. It doesn’t limit, but it records! And if during the check it is discovered that the user connected unregistered drives, he will have problems.

We under no circumstances advise you to try to steal military secrets, but the ability to clear the list of recently connected drives can be useful in other life situations. To do this, look at the following registry keys:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Enum\USBSTOR\ HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Enum\USB\

Here they are - all the drives that you connected to your computer.


It would seem that you just need to take it and clean everything. But it was not there! Firstly, the permissions for these registry branches are set in such a way that you cannot delete anything even in “seven”, not to mention “ten”.


Secondly, assigning rights and permissions manually takes a long time, especially if there are many drives. Thirdly, administrator rights will not help. The screenshot above was created when I performed the delete operation with admin rights. Fourthly, in addition to these two sections, you need to clean a long list of sections. Moreover, they need not just to be deleted, but to be edited correctly.

If for some reason you need to do everything manually, then search for the keywords MountPoints, MountedDevices DeviceClasses and RemovableMedia. But it’s much easier to use a ready-made program that will do everything for you. Some forums recommend USBDeview for this. However, I tested it and declare that it does not clear information from all the necessary sections. USBSTOR And USB continue to contain information about connected media.

I can recommend the program. Run it, check the “Perform real cleaning” checkbox. You can turn on the “Save .reg cancel file” option or not, but if the goal is not to test the program, but to prepare for an upcoming computer inspection, then it’s better to turn it off.


The program not only cleans the registry, but also displays a detailed log of its actions (see below). When it finishes, there will be no mention of connecting drives to the computer.


3. Clear cache and browser history

The third point in our tutu is clearing the cache and browser history. There are no difficulties here - each browser allows you to reset the list of recently visited sites.

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Users of the Windows 10 operating system have the opportunity to view recently opened files using Explorer and Explorer history. And also in the latest updates of the Windows 10 operating system, a timeline has become available to users. Using the timeline, you can specifically see when and what file was used.

In this article, we will look at not only how to see recently opened files in Windows 10, but also how to disable recently used files and frequently used folders in Explorer. We recommend paying attention to the item on how to disable the timeline in Windows 10. It is also possible to open the recent documents folder, which few people know about either.

You can view recently opened files on a computer running the Windows 10 operating system in different ways. New to users is the option to use the timeline, which was introduced in the latest update.

Recent files and frequently used folders

The current opportunity has been around for a long time. The point is that the explorer displays Latest files And Frequently used folders in the tab Fast access. This functionality is useful because even a beginner can quickly find the latest file.

Timeline

Not long ago, it became possible to use multiple desktops, and right after it, a timeline. In order to view recently opened files in Windows 10 using the timeline, you need to press a key combination Win+Tab and scroll down the current page. On the right, the user has access to the actual timeline with specific dates, and on the left, recently opened files can be found.

Recent Documents

To view recent documents in Windows 10 you need to press a key combination Win+R and in the window that opens, run the command shell:recent. In principle, you can find recent documents in the system yourself. To do this, the first thing you should do is , and then follow the path: C:\Users\Username\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Recent.

If you only want to clear recently used files and frequently used folders, you need to use the window Folders settings in the tab Are common press the button Clear opposite the inscription Clear Explorer History.

The Timeline is a new element of the Windows 10 system, so it is configured from the updated system settings.


The current changes will not clear the timeline in any way, but will only prevent the collection of your actions on the computer. To clear the current timeline you need to follow the path: Settings > Privacy > Activity Log press the button Clear In chapter Cleanup Log.

conclusions

This article shows you how to view recently opened files in Windows 10. We looked at where and how to find recent files, frequently used files, timeline and recent documents. We also looked at how to clear recently used files and, if necessary, completely disable their display.

Good day... In this article we will look at how you can add a “Recent Documents” folder in Windows 10. To the Explorer navigation bar. Unlike previous versions, there is no “Recent Documents” folder in the Windows 10 Explorer navigation bar. To view a list of recently viewed files and folders. The user first needs to go to a special quick access section - the Quick Access panel. To the part also located on the Explorer navigation panel. And then open the catalog of recent objects.

This may not be very convenient. Especially for those who are accustomed to switching to it with one click of the mouse. But no problem.In Windows 10, there is a very simple way by which the Recent Documents folder can be returned to the Explorer navigation bar.

Press the combination Win + R, (hot keys), . In the window that appears, you need to run the command shell:Recent...

In it you will see the “Recent Documents” folder highlighted with its own icon. Right-click on it. From the context menu, select the "Pin to Quick Access Toolbar" option...

After this, the “Recent Documents” folder, also known as “Recent Places”, will appear in the Explorer navigation bar. Or rather, in Quick Access.

Maybe this is not quite what is needed. But still better than nothing at all. The trick works in all versions of Windows 10. However, it is unknown whether it will be possible to use it in new editions of the system.

To monitor computer activity and trace the causes of errors, Windows keeps a record of recent events and actions in the system. Using this feature, you can see what applications were recently installed on the system, when the last login sessions were made, and what actions were performed.

You can view your latest activity on your computer using your browser history and the date some files were last opened. You can also view recent documents in the corresponding section of the Start menu.

Quick navigation through the article

Windows log

To view the latest events on your computer using Windows Journal, you must:

  • Open the Start menu.
  • Enter “View event logs” into the search bar.
  • Select the application of the same name in the search results.
  • Wait for the window to load and the list of events to be built.
  • Open the Windows Logs tab.
  • Open the desired journal by double clicking and view the events.

Recent Documents

You can view recently opened files in the “Recent Documents” system menu. By default, this section is disabled in Windows 7, but the user has the opportunity to activate it. To do this you need:

  • Right-click on the Start button.
  • Select the “Properties” item in the context menu.
  • Go to the Start Menu tab.
  • Click the “Configure” button.
  • Find the line “Recent documents” in the list and tick it.
  • Save the changes by clicking the "OK" button.

Browser history

To view the history of open pages in the browser you need to:

  • Launch a web browser.
  • Press the key combination “Ctrl” + “H”.
  • Select, if necessary, the period of the displayed history.
  • View open sites and the date the page was visited.

Date the file was opened

Using standard Windows operating system tools, you can view the date the file was last opened. To do this you should:

  • Right-click on the file.
  • Select “Properties” from the menu that appears.
  • On the “General” tab, look at the date the file was opened.
  • Go to the “Details” tab and see the date the file was saved or modified.