Where in Windows 7 can I find the recent items menu?

Anonymous
2009-09-04T15:19:56+00:00

Where in Windows 7 can I find the recent items menu that was on the main menu in Vista.

*original title - How do I enable recent items?*

Windows for home | Previous Windows versions | Files, folders, and storage

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Anonymous
2009-09-04T17:10:45+00:00

Right click the 'Taskbar', click 'Properties' > select the 'Start Menu' tab > click 'Customize' > in the dialog displayed, check off the appropriate menu link, 'Recent Items'

Andre Da Costa http://adacosta.spaces.live.com http://www.activewin.com

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Anonymous
2010-11-06T02:41:12+00:00

I am having problems with Microsoft WORD not populating the Recent files used from it's icon on the Task Bar.  But... my excel works fine.  I have Windows 7 and Microsoft Office Professional 2007. 

I've right-clicked the Start Menu: Properties: Customize: and Selected that recent files should appear. 

Plus, I have even dragged certain documents to the task bar icon that I want pinned in Word and they will not show up. 

Hi Catjone

The behavior that you are describing can happen if the Virtual file that holds the data for a pinned programs Jump List becomes corrupted.

  1. Copy the following path.

%AppData%\Microsoft\Windows\Recent\AutomaticDestinations

Open Windows Explorer, click in the Address Bar and press the backspace key to clear the address bar.

Right click in the address bar and select Paste. Press the Enter Key. This will open the Automatic Destinations folder.

Note:  This folder is Super Hidden and this is the only way that you can access that folder.

  1. Locate the following file in that folder:  adecfb853d77462a.automaticDestinations-ms 

Right click that file and select Delete.

Exit all running programs and restart the computer.

  1. Use the Word 2007 taskbar icon to open a few random files. Exit Word.
  2. Right click the Word taskbar icon and test the Jump List.

Let us know the results.

Ronnie Vernon MVP – Windows Desktop Experience

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  1. Anonymous
    2011-08-02T12:48:40+00:00

    Yay! Finally worked.

    I had to delete about a dozen files >1MB in the AutomaticDestinations folder (none in the CustomDestinations). There are still several bordering on 1MB (ie, >=900K) which I left alone.

    In any event, the taskbar recent files and pinning functionality are now working again.

    thanks for your tenacity in following this!

    BTW - this also appears to have fixed another issue, which was that the volume control icon in my systray had disappeared. it has now magically reappeared. :)

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  2. Anonymous
    2011-08-02T01:10:08+00:00

    Hi Shanua

    There are a couple of procedures you can use to make the Jump Lists start working again. The following is usually the one that works best.

    1. Locate and delete any Jump List files that are over 1MB in size.

    a. Open Windows Explorer and Copy / Paste the following path in the Address Bar.

    %AppData%\Microsoft\Windows\Recent\AutomaticDestinations

    Press Enter.

    b. In the Size column look for any of the xxxxx.automaticDestinations-ms files that are over 1MB in size. If you find any, right click those files and select Delete.

    c. Copy / Paste the following path in the Address Bar

    %AppData%\Microsoft\Windows\Recent\CustomDestinations

    Press Enter.

    Repeat this same process in that folder.

    NOTE: A file size over 1MB can indicate that the file is corrupted. This can affect the other files in that folder. The file sizes are shown in KB (Kilobytes) so look for a file size of over 1,000KB.

    Let us know the results.

    Regards

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  3. Anonymous
    2011-08-01T21:53:43+00:00

    No joy, I’m afraid.

    I deleted the file, then restarted the machine.

    Then opened a few random files in Word, and closed them and Word.

    Still nothing populating in the recent list when I right-click on the taskbar icon.

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