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Delete Recents

I wish to delete recents so that another person cannot see my choice of files. But, I do not want to delete the files in my other places such as Documents. When a file is deleted from recents it is deleted from the original file! How can I select some, not all, of files in recents and delete their appearance there without deleting the home file???


MacBook Air 13″, macOS 12.4

Posted on Jul 24, 2022 12:25 PM

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9 replies

Jul 25, 2022 11:11 AM in response to gpauk

Will the new search file simple do the same things or do "criteria" limit it?

You can’t replace Recents.

also please detail how I could protect my files from deletion if I disable or better yet move Recent files to Trash.

You can’t. The files shown in a search result are the actual files.


The files in Recents are based on the kMDItemLastUsedDate metadata attached when you open the file in Finder. Some apps will also set the metadata, so you would need to find some tool that would remove that metadata. I don’t know of any.

Jul 25, 2022 7:26 AM in response to Barney-15E

Thank you. I will do that. It still seems strange that a search occurs when i open a file in my own files Not linked to the internet. Will the new search file simple do the same things or do "criteria" limit it?

Also please detail how I could protect my files from deletion if I disable or better yet move Recent files to Trash.

I do appreciate your help.


Delete Recents

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