How to disable 'recents' in Finder on Mac?

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CSan2C Author

Level 1

7 points

How to disable 'recents' in Finder on Mac?

How do I disable the annoying "recents" finder? Thanks for any help.

[Re-Titled by Moderator]

Original Title: Disable "recents?"

MacBook Pro 16″, macOS 15.6

Posted on Sep 16, 2025 10:03 AM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

Phil0124

Community+ 2026

Level 10

220,160 points

Sep 16, 2025 10:34 AM in response to CSan2C

Go the Finder menu, Settings, SideBar, and uncheck Recents from the list.

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Answer 2

Sep 16, 2025 11:26 AM in response to CSan2C

You cannot remove/delete the Recents Smart Folder, though you can choose to remove it from the Finder sidebar as suggested. Recents will still appear in the Go menu, for example, and there's nothing you can do about that.

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