All Recent & Pinned File Links Lost

Anonymous
2024-03-20T14:16:19+00:00

I rebooted my PC today after a Windows update and afterwards in Word, Excel and PowerPoint my Recent Files list and Pinned Files List are all empty. And when I open an existing document, it does not show up in the Recent file list like it used to.

How do I fix both of these issues?

Microsoft 365 and Office | Excel | For home | Windows

Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.

0 comments
Answer accepted by question author
Anonymous
2024-03-22T15:04:46+00:00

For those who want to rollback to a previous version of Office 365 here are the directions.

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/topic/how-to-revert-to-an-earlier-version-of-office-2bd5c457-a917-d57e-35a1-f709e3dda841

The previous version information is: 3/4/2024 Version 2402 Build 17328.20162

To go further back click the following link and scroll down to "Version History".

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/officeupdates/update-history-microsoft365-apps-by-date?redirectSourcePath=%252fen-us%252farticle%252fae942449-1fca-4484-898b-a933ea23def7

You need to make sure you disable updates or the latest version will reinstall at some point.

Was this answer helpful?

1 person found this answer helpful.
0 comments

80 additional answers

Sort by: Oldest
Most helpful Newest Oldest
  1. Anonymous
    2024-03-20T14:21:14+00:00

    A win update has no impact of MS Office

    O365 updates internally

    In the Office component have you checked Options >Advanced > Display > show this number?

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments
  2. Anonymous
    2024-03-20T14:47:47+00:00

    A win update has no impact of MS Office

    O365 updates internally

    In the Office component have you checked Options >Advanced > Display > show this number?

    Maybe there was O365 update then.

    At 830 AM this morning everything was fine.

    At 900 Am after reboot all Recent and Pinned references were gone...

    Options >Advanced > Display > Yes it shows 50, always did.

    One additional thing I found. Powerpoint actually list 2 Recent files, and I see them in Recent list in Office365 site. There are none listed in Excel and Word though. (office.com/mycontent)

    It is almost if these programs are looking for Recent and Pinned in Office 365 (office.com/mycontent) settings, where before the reboot they were stored locally.

    Was this answer helpful?

    2 people found this answer helpful.
    0 comments
  3. Anonymous
    2024-03-20T18:24:14+00:00

    Hi Kevin D!

    I am Shakiru, an independent advisor and a user like you, and I am glad to be helping you out today.

    This is a recent bug as few users have indicated having a similar problem.

    You can reset the display number of the recent files.

    Repair Office Installation:

    Close all Office applications. Go to Control Panel > Programs and Features Find Microsoft Office 365 in the list. Right-click and choose Repair. Follow the prompts to repair your Office installation. Then set the recent and pinned again if that does not reflect after the repair of the Office apps

    Please let me know how it goes and if you need any other assistance and I will be more than happy to help further.

    Thank you

    Best Regards, Shakiru

    Was this answer helpful?

    1 person found this answer helpful.
    0 comments
  4. Anonymous
    2024-03-20T19:02:36+00:00

    Thanks Shakiru -

    I tried all the steps with both Quick Repair and Online (Longer) Repair.

    Neither worked.

    So the 2 problems still exist:

    1. All previous saved Recent and Pinned links are gone
    2. If I open existing files, they do not show up in Recent list. (cannot add to Recent or Pinned list)

    THANKS

    Was this answer helpful?

    2 people found this answer helpful.
    0 comments