Faulty 'Recent' document list in OneDrive, File Explorer and Microsoft 365

Anonymous
2023-12-04T11:38:15+00:00

I understand there is a bug that engineers are working on and that this 'bug' is a big worry for many of us, ie. I'm seeing a 'Recent' list (shows in my File Explorer and on OneDrive) which includes documents that I did not open recently, and gives wrong dates of when opened. My Microsoft 365 Word files are synced to OneDrive. I use Windows 11.

I came across an additional worry concerning this today. I opened my Microsoft 365 Word and found the faulty 'Recent' list there, too. I clicked on the latest item on the list (which I had, in fact, opened yesterday via Explorer), and I got a message warning me that the file was a potential security risk. This is the main file of a novel I am working on and am doing editing each day. I find I can still open the document via File Explorer with no such warning and the document did seem ok when I opened it this way, but is it safe to do so? I have a deadline to finish my editing and need assurance there is no security problem and that this 'Recent' list problem will soon be rectified.

I have only noticed the wrong 'Recent' list in the past week or two, but there are other threads about this, one I have seen goes back to October with people telling of this same issue. In a later thread (in November) we were told it's a known bug that is currently being investigated. Please can I have an update on when it is likely to be fixed. Meanwhile, are our files safe to continue accessing and working on?

Microsoft 365 and Office | OneDrive | For home | Windows

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  1. Anonymous
    2024-05-17T08:40:50+00:00

    Same here - my Recent list is now list of 58 random OneDrive files from my personal and work accounts.

    My Favourites/Pinned in Windows & Office were scrambled but I think after I sorted them out they've stayed good.

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  2. Anonymous
    2024-05-14T19:04:06+00:00

    When I pause OneDrive, the recent list simply becomes empty. When I unpause OneDrive, the recent list is correct again.

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  3. Anonymous
    2024-03-27T21:05:16+00:00

    I am aware, that is not helpful inside of Office Apps where files are pinned. Recent files and pinned files stopped working last week. It is clearly a change that Microsoft made in an update. I am a 40+ year developer and am well versed in these apps. Something changed to disable these two functions in the Office apps.

    Rob Alexander

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  4. Anonymous
    2024-03-27T12:48:55+00:00

    Are you not aware of "Recent files" in Windows Explorer under "Quick access"? It's "easy fast access" in either case: Launch Word/Excel > Open desired file in the recent files list or Launch Explorer (Quick access should be default landing page) > Open desired file in the recent files list.

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  5. Anonymous
    2024-03-26T19:29:44+00:00

    Perhaps related. Often when I start typing an email address when composing an email in Outlook, rather than recent or frequently used email addresses being suggested by Outlook, there is a list of ones I barely recognise or to whom I cannot remember ever having sent a message, except perhaps in reply to a multiple addressee email. They are certainly neither frequent nor recent. As an example, someone who I correspond with at least daily doesn’t come up in the suggested list.

    Does anyone else have this problem?

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