Windows 7 Recent places folder empty.

Nisaj 1 Reputation point
2020-08-17T14:52:45.26+00:00

Team,

can you share your expertise guidance on this issue, below is the troubleshooting steps performed.

Recent places shortcut Target location set to Desktop
Recent items path working as expected.
Tried enabling option from start-->properties-->privacy 2 options(store and display recently opened program/items)..
Removes Recent places folder and Restored favourite link.
Tried a Hkey root registry fix to remove Recent places from favourite and re enabled.

Windows
Windows
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  1. Jenny Feng 14,131 Reputation points
    2020-08-18T02:44:12.55+00:00

    Hi,

    You could try the steps below:
    Right click the 'Taskbar', click 'Properties' > select the 'Start Menu' tab > click 'Customize' > in the dialog displayed, check off the appropriate menu link, 'Recent Items'

    Or

    1. Locate and delete any Jump List files that are over 1MB in size.
      a. Open Windows Explorer and Copy / Paste the following path in the Address Bar.
      %AppData%\Microsoft\Windows\Recent\AutomaticDestinations
      Press Enter.
      b. In the Size column look for any of the xxxxx.automaticDestinations-ms files that are over 1MB in size. If you find any, right click those files and select Delete.
      c. Copy / Paste the following path in the Address Bar
      %AppData%\Microsoft\Windows\Recent\CustomDestinations
      Press Enter.
      Repeat this same process in that folder.
      NOTE: A file size over 1MB can indicate that the file is corrupted. This can affect the other files in that folder. The file sizes are shown in KB (Kilobytes) so look for a file size of over 1,000KB.

    In addition, here are some posts with the similar issue with yours, just for your reference, you can try the method mentioned in them:
    https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/all/recent-places-link-is-always-empty/0b8e817f-57a8-41e7-9e6d-9d2fc80de914?page=3

    Hope above information can help you.

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  2. Nisaj 1 Reputation point
    2020-08-25T12:12:22.42+00:00

    Hi @Jenny Feng

    Apologies for the delay in response as I didn't get mail notification. I have tried all suggested steps below and nothing seems to fix this issue.Still recent places folder is empty.

    1.Enabled Recent items Right click the 'Taskbar', click 'Properties' > select the 'Start Menu' tab > click 'Customize'
    2. no files are more than 100kb in below path
    %AppData%\Microsoft\Windows\Recent\AutomaticDestinations
    %AppData%\Microsoft\Windows\Recent\CustomDestinations

    1. above shared post suggested to enable option from start->properties->privacy- I have enabled both and one
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