Section 1.14. StartRecent Items: All Versions


1.14. Start Recent Items: All Versions

When you click or highlight this command, a submenu sprouts to the right, listing the last 15 documents you've opened. The point, of course, is that you can re open one just by clicking its name .

This list can save you time when you want to resume work on something you had open recently, but you're not in the mood to burrow through folders to find its icon.

Note, however, that:

  • Documents appear on the Recent Items list only if your applications are smart enough to update it. Most modern programs (including all Microsoft programs) perform this administrative task, but not all do.

  • The Recent Items list doesn't know when you've deleted a document or moved it to another folder or disk; it continues to list the file even after it's gone. In that event, clicking the document's listing produces only an error message. (At least the message now offers to delete the listing from Recent Items so you don't confuse yourself again the next time.)

  • Some people consider Recent Items a privacy risk, since it reveals everything you've been up to recently to whatever spouse or buddy happens to wander by. (You know who you are.)

    In that case, you can remove Recent Items from the Start menu altogether. Right-click the Start button itself; from the shortcut menu, choose Properties. In the resulting dialog box, turn off "Store and display a list of recently opened files." Click OK.


    Tip: Of course, there's another easy way to open a document you've recently worked on. To start, simply open the program you used to create it. Many programs maintain a list of recent documents at the bottom of the File menu; choose one of these names to open the corresponding file.



Windows Vista. The Missing Manual
Windows Vista: The Missing Manual
ISBN: 0596528272
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2006
Pages: 284
Authors: David Pogue

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