monterey 12.4 how to clear Recents

Rawegg wrote:

Okay. I'd like to know how that works. I have a huge list of files in Recents. Seems unnecessary.

Recents is a Smart Folder. There are no files stored in that folder as it is a search, not a real folder.

Recents is a small application embedded in the Finder. It does not offer any customization options.

If you want more control, it is easy, however.

Just make a smart folder, or several smart folders, with any criteria you want. Keep them in the Sidebar and use them instead of Recents.

Ah. If I remove a file, then it will not be listed. Right?

It won't be listed, but it won't exist anymore, either. Deleting an item from a Smart Folder deletes the original file.

Okay, I get now that Recents is a smart folder; i.e., a search repository. So if I set up a smart folder for excel files, then how do I stop them from showing up in the Recents search? Won't I just double the amount of space used?

Again, there is nothing stored in there.

Open Recents and Show Path Bar from the View menu in Finder.

Select a file in Recents and look at the path at the bottom of the window. That will show you where the actual file is stored.

These are just search results, there is no duplication of files.

For example, you may create a smart folder for excel files, anoth for files created today which are smaller than 10MB, yet another for all excel files, say.

If you create a new excel file, it will show in all three if the above (and in Recents as well) and yet it is still only one file.

AFAIK - once any file has been opened, even if the file has been deleted, it will still appear in the Recent Folder.

That is not normally true. The metadata that is indexed by the Recents Search criteria is tied to the file, not stored separately. However, as it is based on the Spotlight index, I imagine it is possible that the Spotlight index failed to purge the references to the original file.

No possible

If you don’t want that Recents are shown, open Finder, Preferences and uncheck Recents

👍

AFAIK - once any file has been opened, even if the file has been deleted, it will still appear in the Recent Folder.

OK