The My Recent Documents menu command gives your Start menu a submenu listing the last 15 documents you've opened. Using a list of recent documents can save you time when you want to reopen something you've worked on recently but you're not in the mood to burrow through folders to find its icon.
Note, however, that:
Documents appear on the "recently used" 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 Documents 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.
Of course, there's another easy way to open a document you've recently worked on. To start, simply launch 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.
My Recent Documents 
