How To: Clean the recent documents list in Windows XP’s Start Menu

Cleaning the recent documents list in the Windows XP is a must if you are working on a public computer such as your office or internet cafe. Well, there are many reasons why some should know how to erase their recent documents, but let’s just stick to the facts here.

For those who don’t know, the “My Recent  Documents” menu from the Windows XP’s Start Menu records any current document activity and places a shortcut to the recent opened(used) file within that menu. Basically, it shows your file history within one tab. Cleaning  the “My Recent Documents” history menu is very easy and can be done within few mouse clicks.

Right click on your Taskbar and click Propreties. A window will pop-up, such as the first window in our atached screenshot. You will recognise that the “Start menu” option is active and in its right, the “Customize” menu, which needs to be clicked. Again, another window will pop-up, as shown in the screenshot. There are 2 tabs on that window, the “General” and “Advanced” tabs. We need to select the “Advanced” tab and right below the wall of options, we can see the “List my most recently opened documents” followed by a “Clear List” option in its right. Pressing the “Clear List” option will erase your current recent document history. Also, you can disable the logging of the recent opened documents by unchecking the box on the left of the option.