Clear history of recently opened documents on exit
Verified with Windows 11 25H2 — updated on July 30, 2026
Supported on: At least Windows 2000
Path in the GPO console
User Configuration\Administrative Templates\Start Menu and Taskbar Description
Clear history of recently opened documents on exit. If you enable this setting, the system deletes shortcuts to recently used document files when the user logs off. As a result, the Recent Items menu on the Start menu is always empty when the user logs on. In addition, recently and frequently used items in the Jump Lists off of programs in the Start Menu and Taskbar will be cleared when the user logs off. If you disable or do not configure this setting, the system retains document shortcuts, and when a user logs on, the Recent Items menu and the Jump Lists appear just as it did when the user logged off. Note: The system saves document shortcuts in the user profile in the System-drive\Users\User-name\Recent folder. Also, see the "Remove Recent Items menu from Start Menu" and "Do not keep history of recently opened documents" policies in this folder. The system only uses this setting when neither of these related settings are selected. This setting does not clear the list of recent files that Windows programs display at the bottom of the File menu. See the "Do not keep history of recently opened documents" setting. This policy setting also does not hide document shortcuts displayed in the Open dialog box. See the "Hide the dropdown list of recent files" setting. This policy also does not clear items that the user may have pinned to the Jump Lists, or Tasks that the application has provided for their menu. See the "Do not allow pinning items in Jump Lists" setting.
Registry
Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer Value name: ClearRecentDocsOnExit
MDM / Intune (CSP)
./User/Vendor/MSFT/Policy/Config/ADMX_StartMenu/ClearRecentDocsOnExit Microsoft Learn documentation Mapping data: Microsoft Learn (CC BY 4.0)
Export Builder
BETAConfigure the state, scope and options, then generate .reg, PowerShell, Intune and SCCM outputs — or add the setting to a multi-setting collection.
These exports write the registry — this is not a managed GPO. ⓘ
.reg file
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
; Exported from gporais.com
; Policy: Clear history of recently opened documents on exit
; State: Enabled
; Supported on: At least Windows 2000
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer]
"ClearRecentDocsOnExit"=dword:00000001More formats (PowerShell, Intune, SCCM)
PowerShell
# Exported from gporais.com
# Policy: Clear history of recently opened documents on exit
# State: Enabled
# Supported on: At least Windows 2000
# Warning: In SYSTEM context (the Intune default), HKCU targets the SYSTEM profile. Run this script using the logged-on credentials.
$path = 'HKCU:\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer'
New-Item -Path $path -Force | Out-Null
Set-ItemProperty -Path $path -Name 'ClearRecentDocsOnExit' -Value 1 -Type DWordIntune XML
OMA-URI: ./User/Vendor/MSFT/Policy/Config/ADMX_StartMenu/ClearRecentDocsOnExit
Data type: String
Value:
<enabled/>Intune Remediation
# === Detection script ===
# Exported from gporais.com
# Policy: Clear history of recently opened documents on exit
# State: Enabled
# Supported on: At least Windows 2000
# Warning: In SYSTEM context (the Intune default), HKCU targets the SYSTEM profile. Run this script using the logged-on credentials.
function Test-RegistryValue {
param(
[Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][string]$Path,
[Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][string]$Name,
[object]$Expected,
[ValidateSet('String', 'DWord', 'MultiString')][string]$Kind = 'String',
[switch]$Absent
)
try {
$item = Get-ItemProperty -LiteralPath $Path -Name $Name -ErrorAction Stop
} catch {
return $Absent.IsPresent
}
if ($Absent.IsPresent) { return $false }
$actual = $item.$Name
if ($Kind -eq 'DWord') { return ([int64]$actual) -eq ([int64]$Expected) }
if ($Kind -eq 'MultiString') {
$actualValues = @($actual)
$expectedValues = @($Expected)
if ($actualValues.Count -ne $expectedValues.Count) { return $false }
for ($i = 0; $i -lt $expectedValues.Count; $i++) {
if ([string]$actualValues[$i] -ne [string]$expectedValues[$i]) { return $false }
}
return $true
}
return [string]$actual -eq [string]$Expected
}
$checks = @(
(Test-RegistryValue -Path 'HKCU:\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer' -Name 'ClearRecentDocsOnExit' -Expected 1 -Kind DWord)
)
if ($checks -notcontains $false) {
Write-Output 'Compliant'
exit 0
}
Write-Output 'Non-compliant'
exit 1
# === Remediation script ===
# Exported from gporais.com
# Policy: Clear history of recently opened documents on exit
# State: Enabled
# Supported on: At least Windows 2000
# Warning: In SYSTEM context (the Intune default), HKCU targets the SYSTEM profile. Run this script using the logged-on credentials.
$path = 'HKCU:\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer'
New-Item -Path $path -Force | Out-Null
Set-ItemProperty -Path $path -Name 'ClearRecentDocsOnExit' -Value 1 -Type DWordSCCM scripts
# Exported from gporais.com
# Policy: Clear history of recently opened documents on exit
# State: Enabled
# Supported on: At least Windows 2000
# SCCM Configuration Item guidance:
# Create a Configuration Item of type "Setting: Script".
# Discovery script: use the Detection script below.
# Remediation script: use the Remediation script below.
# Compliance rule: the Discovery script output equals 'Compliant'.
# === Detection script ===
# Exported from gporais.com
# Policy: Clear history of recently opened documents on exit
# State: Enabled
# Supported on: At least Windows 2000
# Warning: In SYSTEM context (the Intune default), HKCU targets the SYSTEM profile. Run this script using the logged-on credentials.
function Test-RegistryValue {
param(
[Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][string]$Path,
[Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][string]$Name,
[object]$Expected,
[ValidateSet('String', 'DWord', 'MultiString')][string]$Kind = 'String',
[switch]$Absent
)
try {
$item = Get-ItemProperty -LiteralPath $Path -Name $Name -ErrorAction Stop
} catch {
return $Absent.IsPresent
}
if ($Absent.IsPresent) { return $false }
$actual = $item.$Name
if ($Kind -eq 'DWord') { return ([int64]$actual) -eq ([int64]$Expected) }
if ($Kind -eq 'MultiString') {
$actualValues = @($actual)
$expectedValues = @($Expected)
if ($actualValues.Count -ne $expectedValues.Count) { return $false }
for ($i = 0; $i -lt $expectedValues.Count; $i++) {
if ([string]$actualValues[$i] -ne [string]$expectedValues[$i]) { return $false }
}
return $true
}
return [string]$actual -eq [string]$Expected
}
$checks = @(
(Test-RegistryValue -Path 'HKCU:\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer' -Name 'ClearRecentDocsOnExit' -Expected 1 -Kind DWord)
)
if ($checks -notcontains $false) {
Write-Output 'Compliant'
exit 0
}
Write-Output 'Non-compliant'
exit 1
# === Remediation script ===
# Exported from gporais.com
# Policy: Clear history of recently opened documents on exit
# State: Enabled
# Supported on: At least Windows 2000
# Warning: In SYSTEM context (the Intune default), HKCU targets the SYSTEM profile. Run this script using the logged-on credentials.
$path = 'HKCU:\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer'
New-Item -Path $path -Force | Out-Null
Set-ItemProperty -Path $path -Name 'ClearRecentDocsOnExit' -Value 1 -Type DWordBuilding a multi-setting collection? Add this setting and generate combined .reg / PowerShell / GPO scripts.