How to disable "recent files" folder in Nautilus?

Question

When I turn off " record activity" in the privacy settings, my activities are still recorded in the "recent files" folder (even when I am using a truecrypt volume).

I haven't figured out a PERMANENT solution to this problem. It sucks to delete history via terminal manually and what happens if I forget?

One of you should post that as an answer, but beware that does not clear everything (such as bash history and specific applications may also track recent files). — Panther, May 13 '13 at 17:05
Exactly how are you deleting the history via the terminal? I'd really like a temporary solution. — Hubro, Jul 09 '13 at 15:34
in Ubuntu 13.04 the settings.ini file is in /etc/gtk-3.0/settings.ini and the configuration will be applied for all users — , Oct 03 '13 at 16:47

score 50 · Answer 1 · edited Nov 15 '13 at 18:50

50

The method with editing ~/.config/gtk-3.0/settings.ini doesn't work with Nautilus 3.8. But there is better and simpler way. Simply open dconf-editor, navigate to org->gnome->desktop->privacy and uncheck the remember-recent-files key. That takes care of it, once for all!

edited Nov 15 '13 at 18:50

guntbert

13,134

answered Nov 15 '13 at 18:05

ionash.

501

2

org->gnome->desktop doesn't have privacy for me in 13.04. – Prinzhorn Jan 04 '14 at 11:35
+1 neat. For noobs like me, dconf-editor just runs in my terminal - it's a UI :) – Ben Jan 18 '14 at 23:07
4

in Gnome 3.8 Settings -> Privacy -> Turn of Usage & History – Din Jun 29 '14 at 11:17

score 16 · Answer 2 · answered Feb 15 '19 at 21:22

16

Using the terminal:

gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.privacy remember-recent-files false

answered Feb 15 '19 at 21:22

Nathaniel M. Beaver

1,518
12
33

score 9 · Answer 3 · edited Jun 12 '20 at 14:37

Disable the Nautilus Recent Files list

To permanently disable any recent files from showing up in the Nautilus Recent sidebar item, open the ~/.config/gtk-3.0/settings.ini file with a text editor:

gedit ~/.config/gtk-3.0/settings.ini

and under "[Settings]", add the following lines:

gtk-recent-files-max-age=0
gtk-recent-files-limit=0

If this file does not exist, create it. Make sure the header says "[Settings]" and not "Settings". This is how the file should look after editing it:

[Settings]
gtk-recent-files-max-age=0
gtk-recent-files-limit=0

(there can be other items below these, of course).

To apply the changes, log out and log back in.

_{Copied from Webupd8 exercising (cc) BY-NC-SA WebUpd8 : Nautilus 3.6: How To Clear The Recent Files List (Or Disable It)}

Doesn't work for me on 13.04. – pcworld Aug 20 '13 at 23:27 — pcworld, Aug 20 '13 at 23:27

score 8 · Answer 4 · answered Dec 09 '14 at 13:30

8

In 14.04 go to Settings > Security & Privacy > Files & Applications and check "off" Record file and application usage .

answered Dec 09 '14 at 13:30

Paul Gregoire

523

not work! i excluded all the videos, my movies folder, my video player applications.. but it keep adding videos into "Recent" list – Hiep Apr 24 '17 at 21:17
It worked at the time for me in 14; I've been using 16 for awhile now and couldn't say if its still valid or not. – Paul Gregoire Apr 25 '17 at 03:06

score 7 · Answer 5 · answered Jan 04 '18 at 17:11

7

If you're using Ubuntu 17.10 and above (or Ubuntu GNOME) then:

Open Settings
Open the Privacy Tab
Click Usage & History and disable the "Recently Used" label

answered Jan 04 '18 at 17:11

hexman

881

the only answer that worked.kudos – shubhendu Jan 22 '24 at 04:41

aliasbind · Answer 6 · 2013-10-12T15:55:57.007

3

Starting with GTK 3.8 (Ubuntu 13.10 and later) you can just use the following setting in
~/.config/gtk-3.0/settings.ini to disable the "Recent files" feature completely:

[Settings]
gtk-recent-files-enabled = 0

edited Oct 12 '13 at 15:55

answered Oct 12 '13 at 15:35

aliasbind

31

1

didn't work for me on 13.10, dconf-editor solution works well – baptx Dec 09 '13 at 12:44
Maybe worth doing the same for ~/.config/gtk-4.0/settings.ini config file! – Tobias Reich Sep 20 '22 at 21:50

score 2 · Answer 7 · answered May 13 '13 at 16:41

2

You have 4 options (AFIK)

Use the guest account. The guest account is confined by apparmor and the session is wiped when you log out.
Each user should have a separate account.
Write a script to clear your private data.
use bleachbit.

answered May 13 '13 at 16:41

Panther

102,067

I suppose you could always boot from a flash drive as well. – Panther May 13 '13 at 16:48

score 1 · Answer 8 · answered Aug 20 '13 at 23:30

As the settings.ini method didn't work for me on Ubuntu 13.04, here is a workaround that should be pretty reliable:

$ rm ~/.local/share/recently-used.xbel # clear current file history
$ touch ~/.local/share/recently-used.xbel # create a 0-byte history file
$ sudo chattr +i ~/.local/share/recently-used.xbel # make it readonly

score 0 · Answer 9 · answered Sep 29 '23 at 09:21

0

gnome 42

in gnome 42 one can set the recent-files-max-age to 0.

Recently used files will be remembered for this many days. If set to 0, recent files will not be remembered; if set to -1, they will be retained indefinitely.

answered Sep 29 '23 at 09:21

yellowsir

143
6

score 0 · Answer 10 · edited Nov 09 '17 at 06:28

0

Simply open dconf-editor, navigate to org->gnome->(filemanager e.g. nemo for me)->privacy and uncheck the remember-recent-files key. That takes care of it, once for all!

edited Nov 09 '17 at 06:28

Andrew Tapia

929
6
19

answered Nov 08 '17 at 22:52

lakhan

1

How to disable "recent files" folder in Nautilus?

10 Answers10

Disable the Nautilus Recent Files list

If you're using Ubuntu 17.10 and above (or Ubuntu GNOME) then:

gnome 42

Linked

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