Windows 10 saves by default 20 recent files in your home folder when using your system. However if you’re keen to your privacy you might not like it that Windows does this. We’ll explain you how you can disable it.
1. Right-click the Start icon in your task bar and then Click on Control Panel

2. Then Click on Appearance and Personalization



3. Then Click on Taskbar and Navigation
4. Click on the Tab Start Menu
5. Uncheck the Boxes under Privacy.



That’s all. You should no longer see a history under applications and within File Explorer.
This worked for me on Win10:
Open Windows Settings (not control panel).
Search “jump list” and open “Show recently opened items in Jump Lists on Start or the taskbar”
Disable bottom option called “Show recently opened items in Jump Lists on Star Menu or the taskbar”
…and probably turn off the other options on this screen if you don’t want windows tracking things.
The ‘Start Menu’ tab is not visible where it is pictured in this article, so the options can not be changed. Note 100% failure rate from users under the article, now +1.
Hello
Thanks for letting us know, we didn’t even realize we still had an old image of Windows 10 in this guide. We’ve updated the image and the guide accordingly.
you can just type ‘Taskbar and Navigation’ and jump straight to step 4
thanks Bill, however we explain it step by step for people not familiar with search in start for example prior Windows XP users