recents folder fill with very old files

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recents folder fill with very old files

My Recents folder is filled with files from several years ago. How can I clean this up so it represents actually recently used files?

MacBook Pro 15″, macOS 12.1

Posted on Jan 13, 2022 1:21 PM

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Answer 1

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hirlas Author

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Jan 13, 2022 6:39 PM in response to Barney-15E

My Recents shows a seemingly random list of files dating back years and not a comprehensive list of recently opened files. Something not right, maybe with indexing or metadata?

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Answer 2

hirlas Author

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Jan 14, 2022 6:56 AM in response to Barney-15E

Hopeful, thanks. I used this info https://stackoverflow.com/questions/4833052/how-do-i-remove-the-extended-attributes-on-a-file-in-mac-os-x to remove the extended data on a file created in 1998 and last opened in 2017 but it still showed up in the Recents until I rebuilt the Spotlight database for my whole home directory https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201716

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Answer 3

Barney-15E

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Jan 13, 2022 9:00 PM in response to hirlas

On general, it is only files opened from Finder. Many apps do not set the metadata used by the smart folder.

If it is in some random order, check the sorting. It should be by date last opened.

As it is a smart folder, you could try reindexing Spotlight.

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201716

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Answer 4

hirlas Author

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Jan 13, 2022 9:52 PM in response to Barney-15E

Is there a way then to remove metadata so Finder can go back to ignoring these files from 2017?

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Answer 5

Barney-15E

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117,058 points

Jan 13, 2022 5:10 PM in response to hirlas

Recents shows every document you've opened. It should order by last used date, so the recent ones are on top.

If you want to limit recents to some shorter timeframe, you can create your own smart folder that limits the timeframe.

https://www.makeuseof.com/tag/8-smart-folders-need-mac-set/

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Answer 6

Barney-15E

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117,058 points

Jan 14, 2022 4:38 AM in response to hirlas

Not particularly easy, but yes. I couldn’t tell you how to do it, but you need to remove the kMDItemLasedUsedDate.

It would be easier to create your own Smart Folder or just sort the folder by last opened date.

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Answer 7

PRP_53

Level 10

92,275 points

Jan 13, 2022 2:01 PM in response to hirlas

No sure that can be done but if you hold on - more Learned Colleagues can offer more insight if it can even be done.

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recents folder fill with very old files

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