How To Clear Recent Documents In Windows 7 Start Menu, Taskbar Upon Exit

Windows 7 has some new terms for existing features. An example is the recently opened files/documents list in Start Menu. This is called ‘My Recent Documents’ in Windows XP and now called ‘Recent Items’ in Windows 7.

Many people like to clear history of recently opened documents time after time so that they can reduce the clutter in Start Menu as well as protect their privacy from others sharing their PC. We have already written an article on how to can Clear Recently Opened Files and Programs from Start Menu  in Windows 7. However this is a manual method which has to be done every time you want to delete the history.

You can tell Windows 7 to clear recent items history every time you exit/logoff your system. Here are the steps to do it:

1. Log in as an administrator on your Windows 7 PC.

2. Click on Start Menu.

3. Type ‘gpedit.msc’ in the search box and hit Enter.

4. The Local Group Policy Editor window should now open.

5. In the left side pane, navigate to Local Computer Policy –> User Configuration –> Administrative Templates –> Start Menu and Taskbar.

6. In the right side pane, scroll the list to find Clear history of recently opened documents on exit.

7. Double click on this setting.

8. In the following window titled ‘Clear history of recently opened documents on exit’, select the radio button Enabled.

9. Click OK to save the changes.

From now on Windows 7 will clear the Recent Items list in Start Menu as well as the recently and frequently used items in Jump Lists of both Start Menu and Taskbar whenever you logoff/restart your computer.