I can no longer pin excel files in my jump list... what is solution?

In Windows and Office, pinning Excel files can be controlled by both Excel’s own “Recent” list and Windows’ Jump List settings. Use the following checks and fixes:

1. Confirm Windows Jump List setting is enabled
   1. Open Settings.
   2. Go to Personalization > Start.
   3. Make sure the toggle for Show recommended files in Start, recent files in Explorer, and items in Jump Lists (or similarly worded option) is On.
   4. Close Excel and reopen it, then try pinning again from the taskbar Jump List.
2. Check Excel’s own Recent list and pin from there
   1. Open Excel.
   2. Select the File tab.
   3. Select Open to show the Recent files list.
   4. Hover over the file that should be pinnable and select Pin this item to the list on the right side.
   5. Once pinned in Excel’s Recent list, that file should also appear as a pinned item in the Excel Jump List on the taskbar.
3. Verify Jump List item limits are not exceeded Windows limits how many items appear in Jump Lists:
   1. Open Control Panel and select Taskbar and Start Menu.
   2. On the Start Menu tab, select Customize.
   3. Check Number of recent items to display in Jump Lists and ensure it is not set to a very low value (for example, set it to 10 or higher).
   4. Apply the change and test pinning again.
4. Clear and rebuild the Recent/Jump List data (non-destructive to files) If the list is corrupted, clearing unpinned items can help:
   1. In Excel, go to File > Open.
   2. Right-click any file in the list and select Clear unpinned Documents.
   3. Confirm with Yes.
   4. Reopen the files that should be pinned, then try pinning them again from Excel’s Recent list and from the Jump List.

If after these steps pinning still does nothing, the profile’s Jump List data may be damaged at the OS level; in that case, creating a new Windows user profile and testing there can confirm whether the issue is profile-specific.

References:

• Customize the list of recently used files in Office apps
• A Jump List Item is not displayed in Windows 7 or in Windows Server 2008 R2
• Customize the Taskbar in Windows
• Why won't Recent Files show up in Windows Explorer? I turn it on, but it turns off... - Microsoft Q&A