Clear XP's Recent Document List(Tips)

Windows XP remembers your recently opened documents and puts those files in the My Recent Documents menu in the Start menu. This is a useful feature because it allows you to get to stuff you recently opened. Odds are that if you opened a file recently, you're going to open it again! Visiting the My Recent Documents menu speeds up accessing those files you open the most. The problem is other people can see what you've been looking at recently, too! Maybe you opened something recently you don't want anyone to know you've opened. Here's how you clear the list:

1. Right click on an empty area of the taskbar and click Properties
2. In the Taskbar and Start Menu Properties dialog box, click on the Start Menu tab.
3. On the Start Menu tab, click the Customize button. Note that there is a Start menu and a Classic Start Menu option. I'll assume you're using the new Start menu and have the first option selected.
4. After clicking on the Customize button, you'll see the Customize Start Menu dialog box. Click on the Advanced tab.
5. On the Advanced tab, click the Clear List button. This button lies just to the right of the List my most recently opened documents check box. If your computer is like mine, the dialog box will lock up! I hope that your Windows XP computer isn't like mine . Click OK and then click OK again to close all the dialog boxes.

Now when you go to the start menu, you'll see your My Recent Documents folder is gone! Don't worry. It will come back when you start opening documents.