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Open a file without adding it to the recent list

Anonymous
2022-06-16T14:05:43+00:00

Hi. Is it possible to open a file without adding it to a recent list. I use lots and lots of temporary files such as csv's etc... and they all get added to the recent list which is just a nuisance. I then have to go and remove them from the list and can't seem to multi select them which means I waste lots and lots of time removing them one at a time whereas, an ideal solution would be to be able to use a modifier or something on opening them so that they're not added in the first place. Any ideas? I do use the recent list quite often as I work on multiple spreadsheet files both in Excel and other spreadsheet programs (I have to use other programs sometimes as Excel is insanely heavy on memory usage and when working with other software running this makes it an impossibility to use it so I use Win32Sheets and Libreoffice to counteract this). If this isn't possible then I may have to just sack Excel off which I'd rather not do but it just seems to be too problematic to use these days.

Microsoft 365 and Office | Excel | Other | Windows

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  1. Anonymous
    2022-06-16T15:21:08+00:00

    Hi MarkRrrrRR, hope you're doing well. I’m Ian, and I’m happy to help you today.

    As of now, there is no setting that will remove a particular file in the recent list.

    It is either you remove it manually one by one or remove it all.

    this can be done via VBA Macro. In my macro below, this will remove file in the recent list with "RecentRemove" text in the filename. This can be change based on the your need.

    Sub Clear_Recent_List()
    Dim i, OriginalMax  As Long
    
    On Error Resume Next
    
    OriginalMax = Application.RecentFiles.Maximum
    Application.RecentFiles.Maximum = 50
    
    For i = Application.RecentFiles.Count To 1 Step -1
        If InStr(Application.RecentFiles(i).Name, "RecentRemove") > 0 Then
            Application.RecentFiles(i).Delete
        End If
    Next
    Application.RecentFiles.Maximum = OriginalMax
End Sub

    This is a user-to-user support forum and I am a fellow user.

    I hope this helps, but please let me know if you need anything else.

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  2. Anonymous
    2022-06-16T14:56:36+00:00

    You can pin the files that you use often to the top of the recent files - the temp files will be at the bottom.

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  3. Anonymous
    2022-06-17T02:27:02+00:00

    You are welcome. This VBA code is working find, you can improve it based on your need. Yes it is unfortunate that you need to resort to that. Possibly you can just exclude files with CSV extension name.

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  4. Anonymous
    2022-06-16T15:32:32+00:00

    Thanks. This is exactly the problem I had when trying to write a macro to remove the most recently added item to the recent list. I really appreciate people replying to my question. I find it unfortunate that I have to go to an outside program to overcome something that would seem so simple to fix but, as it turns out is so complicated. I'm currently developing several apps to overcome issues such as these as well as working on the development of a complete application in C++ and so thank you for saving me the time delving further into this issue. I'll do all my CSV work in libreoffice in future and then import it into Excel. It's a shame that I find it necessary to do this but if an easier solution isn't to be found then I don't see another option. At the moment, the two main projects I have in visual studio are a very light-weight spreadsheet for windows and an email manager for android, both to make use of office products that don't want to work how I would like them to. Once again, thankyou for your help.

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  5. Anonymous
    2022-06-16T15:21:53+00:00

    Hi. Thanks Bernie but I already have around 25 pinned items. I change these on a monthly basis when I update to the new ones. It's therefore quite handy to have the recent list for keeping track of files I've used recently and may want to use again without pinning them but, as I end up adding hundreds of temporary files to the recent list unnecessarily every week it makes it a problem. I did write a macro to try and remove the most recently added file but I couldn't get it to work as expected. I also tend to use csv files to add appointments to Outlook (and this works brilliantly) but unfortunately, they all end up in my recent list. I was just hoping to find a way to override the recent list temporarily without removing stuff that I want to leave on there.

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