Clearing the “Recent” folder in the “Files” application on iPad

The following question was asked several years ago by others, and yet the problem remains with Apple seemingly not wanting to address the issue. This is a dangerous flaw resulting in several people I know losing documents. There is no reason for Apple not to fix this issue. “How can I clear the contents of the “Recent” folder in the “Files” app on an iPad without deleting the file from the location where the file is actually located? I tried selecting “delete” but this not only removes the file from the “recent” folder but also deletes it from the location its stored in. Or is there a way to disable the “Recent” folder feature?”

iPad Pro, iOS 11