The Privacy Risks of the Recent Files List
When you open Microsoft Excel, the software automatically displays a “Recent” list containing the spreadsheets you have worked on lately. While this is incredibly useful for quickly jumping back into your workflow, it can be a significant privacy risk. If you are sharing your screen during a video conference, or if you share a computer with colleagues, sensitive file names regarding payroll, medical data, or confidential business plans will be clearly visible on the launch screen. Clearing this list is a simple way to protect your privacy.
How to Clear Your Recent Spreadsheets in Excel
You can instantly wipe the recent documents history without deleting the actual files from your hard drive.
1. Open Microsoft Excel.
2. Click on the File tab in the top-left corner.
3. Select Open from the left-hand menu.
4. You will see your Recent workbooks listed in the central pane.
5. Right-click on any file in that list.
6. From the context menu that appears, click on Clear unpinned Workbooks (or Clear unpinned items).
7. A warning box will ask if you are sure you want to remove all unpinned items. Click Yes to confirm.
Disabling the Recent Documents Feature Permanently
If you regularly work with sensitive data and do not want to constantly clear your history manually, you can instruct Excel to stop tracking your recent files entirely.
Click on File, then select Options at the bottom of the menu. In the Word Options window, navigate to the Advanced tab. Scroll down until you find the Display section. Look for the setting labelled Show this number of Recent Workbooks and change the numerical value to 0 (zero). Click OK to save your changes. Excel will no longer populate the recent files list upon launch.