Understanding the Recents Folder On a Mac
HTML-код
- Опубликовано: 7 фев 2025
- macmost.com/e-... When you click on Recents in the Finder, you get a huge list of all of your files. This is the result of a search, and not a separate location for these files. Recents is useful for quick access to the files you were just working on, but shouldn't be used for deleting or organizing files. You can also search with Recents as a starting point for a more specific search. You can disable Recents in the sidebar or create your own version using a Saved Search.
FOLLOW MACMOST FOR NEW TUTORIALS EVERY DAY
▶︎ RUclips - macmost.com/j-y... (And hit the 🔔)
▶︎ Weekly Email Newsletter - macmost.com/ne... ✉️
SUPPORT MACMOST AT PATREON
▶︎ macmost.com/pa... ❤️
#macmost #macrecents
Late to the show but how wonderful that I found it! I am truly grateful as now I know how to see where my time has gone when it's hard to remember when I was working on specific things. I also now understand what the Recents is about - a Search! What a gift of Apple to be able to provide this tool - and your video has been a gift to me today - Thank you so much Gary!
Excellent. Gary will never go out of style. His very generous service to Apple product customers is unmatched. Many thanks.
OMG! I'm so glad I watched this. I was doing some clean up and thought that the "recents" folder was just a group of tags for files. I almost deleted them all! Thanks Gary.
Been unsung Macs since 95 and still learning new great things from you! 🙏🏻👏
Thank you for making these videos! I've been using my macs for a few years now and never took the time to properly store and organize- now I'm paying the price, and learning how these different files etc. work is so helpful!
Gary the best MacOS teacher 🔥🔥 got my Mac few months ago...now using it like a pro...
Thanks, Gary - I just referred to this as a last me "go to" check - just be before I almost deleted this entire file!!! Also, you have demonstrated real-life usefulness for this "non-file" - much appreciated - and - as usual - outstanding job!
This is so helpful!! I have been a MAC user for years and have never understood the purpose of the Recents folder. Thank you for your video. PS: I think we should go back to calling it "All My Files" 😄
Thank you! This is very clear and helpful for sorting out the mysteries of my Mac.
Gary, you continue to answer questions and give insight to issues that people don't know about or don't think about (until they need an answer)! I am AMAZED at your knowledge which makes you a GREAT resource. Apple should sponsor you...your videos are priceless (but I'm sure they could negotiate a price to pay you)! I stopped using Apple Support Community because your VIDEOS are easy, illustrative and concise. THANKS.
Gary, your videos are so helpful. Thank you so much. Love 🌺
thank you saying i love youu it's not enough i learn so much from this channel
It’s a very useful feature, now that I understand how to tweak it.
Your video just saved me and my files! Thank you! Thank you!
Thanks for very good explanation
I am one of those that deleted all by mistake, I thought I am in Downloads and I just quickly pressed cmd+A, cmd+delete and pfffffoooohhhh! Then realised :))) after that the Recents folder didn't worked for a while and I solved it like this: "Force quit and restart finder: Apple Logo/Force Quit/Finder/Relaunch" (maybe it helps someone). Now Recents works the same as before. Thanks for the video, it's really good!
I was about to delete all the folders lol 🤭
Thank you for saving my files
thus lesson was very important
Thank you so much Gary, you're the Best!
another useful information from you. Thanks 👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼
Thanks Im a dj and I cleared my whole recents folder, thinking there were just dups lingering in the main drive taking up space well in order to save space on my new M1 air "I erased all recents"... Go back to look for the song file in my DAW and I was like .. wtf... not knowing the info you stated here in the video ( Thank god for the external back up!) and thank you sir for the info "now I know"
Just revisiting this video as my Recents ‘folder’ is empty. I’ve i initiated a rebuild of indexing in the hope that fixes it. Not a clue how this has happened.
This 7:20 is super handy! thanks for the tips :)
Thank you!!!
Thank you very much. I just download a new file into download folder. But it is not showed in the recent folder. How can i fix it? Thanks a lot.
Sorry, I don't know why it isn't showing there.
@@macmost thank you for your reply.
Thank you. so much, I got what I was looking for.
Is there a method to customize Recents so it reads the recent files on my external hard drive rather than internal hard drive? I work off my external HD and I wish when I open my Finder Recent tab, it would show all the files I opened on my external drive and not my mac default HD.
Just create your own Smart Folder to do that. ruclips.net/video/3247vb7_-pY/видео.html
@@macmost That really helped! Thank you so much!
Thank you!!! This is so helpful!
Excellent video, your information is very interesting. Just one question, why do you delete "recent" files from Downloads as well? Do the test, for example, if you download a lot of photos from the web on your mac, they will appear in "downloads" as is obvious, but also in "recent", now go to recent and delete all those photos, and immediately go to downloads and They will also have been deleted...why does it happen? It shouldn't happen. You who are a Mac expert... do you know that?
Recents is not a location. It is a list of your most recently accessed files. Nothing is IN recents. It is just a list, like a playlist or search result. If you delete something shown in recents it is deleted where it is located (Downloads, Documents, etc). See ruclips.net/video/9bY9cDSRZxc/видео.html
@@macmostYes, not only download documents are deleted, but also all other folders. There should be a hidden mode for recents, but not yet. Thanks for your answer
Thank you for all your videos. Since the 12.6 Monterey update my recent files do not appear to be showing in the 'Recents' folder which is on the sidebar. I have checked preferences and Recents has a tick against it. Any ideas why files are not showing? Thank you
Not sure. Do keep in mind that these are recently opened files, so sometimes downloaded files aren't included because they haven't ever been opened.
excellent video. thanks
I have a question, please. I have several folders on my Mac desktop and all the documents in each folder popped out of the folders and they are scattered all over my desktop. How do I get them back into their appropriate folders? When I look in Finder, all the folders still have documents in them, but on my desktop they are not in the folders, they scattered all over my desktop. I have a 2017 MacBook Pro. Thank you!
Hard to tell what you are dealing with. Are you sure they were in folders, not just using Desktop "Stacks?"
@@macmost thank you for responding. Yes, I created each folder and then saved documents in them. I restarted my computer one day and all the documents were no longer in the folders but scattered across the desktop
@@TashaD001 No idea what could have caused that other than a weird combination of accidental clicks or something. You'll have to just take the time to reorganize.
@6:05 - Why would a search in recents have a different result than the same search in "This Mac"?
Lots of reasons. "This Mac" is all files, but "Recents" is a list of files just from your Home Folder and iCloud Drive.
@@macmost OH! Now I get it. Thanks for the reply.
Followup question: Your finder window shows above your list, your choice of This Mac or Recents. Mine does not show this. I'd like to have that option as well. I have set it to my preferred default, but I'd like to see it and be able to change directly as you show in your example right there at the top of the list.
@@darelldd That's would happen if you start in Recents when you search. It shows you the current "location" there and also "This Mac."
@@macmost Sure enough! wow, such nuances to this that I never would have known. Thanks for your great vids AND responses.
if Idelete the files of recent folder, autimatically delete the same file on destock. Please
Watch the video. There is only one file.
Very useful video. I have recently subscribed to your channel and the weakly newsletter. I recently used migration assistant to transfer data from my 2012 Mac Mini to my new Mac Mini M1. It appears that all of the data was transferred to the recents folder. Apparently many of my folders did not transfer over, only the data. Any idea why this happened?
The recents folder usually just shows all of my files but ever since I used FileVault to encrypt it it’s saying 0 then 100 then back to 0. Usually it’s just under 3,000. Nothing has been deleted because all my files are still on the hard drive. I’m confused
Hi I accidentally took out recents out of my finders, and I don’t know how I can get it back on there
Find, Preferences, Sidebar. Check it.
Yesterday I've been working on a photoshop file; however this is not shown in the recent files list. It shows me files with 5 days delayed, why not the files worked yesterday and before yesterday?
Hard to say why that one would be missing, sorry.
can this be recovered when deleted even specially when the trash is emptied?
Can what be recovered? Files you put in the Trash and then emptied the Trash? Not usually.
i accidently removed the recents tab in finder. How do i restor it?
Do you mean the item in the left sidebar? Finder, Settings, Sidebar, check Recents.
Great video. But I wonder why my Recent is showing only 15 random files? Not the new ones.
I bought a new MacMini M2 with running Ventura 13.2.1. I've always used the Recents but now, every time I restart the computer, it clears the Recents list until I start opening files then when I turn the computer on again tomorrow, the list is empty again... HELP!
Not sure why that would be. It should clear out the list like that. (BTW, no need to restart your Mac like that: ruclips.net/video/FsrTpEuXEtc/видео.html)
@@macmost Thanks for that sleep tip! I've posted the Recents question in the Apple Community to see what I get and will elevate to AppleCare if its not an easy fix.
Couldn't find 'All My File' on Finder's sidebar
Dude! Why would they change the name to recents? I thought I downloaded some mal ware or something and started deleting everything.
Hi great video - I love Recent but find it inaccurate.
What if files don't show up and missing in Recent Items that I have created (.mov) last week and can't find it anywhere (searched *.mov) or a Word doc I read but didn't change and closed not appearing in Recent?
Does it dynamically update for every file every time or only in some circumstances or need indexing update like Spotlight?
Lastly, does it look at OneDrive? I have been reading google searches for an hour and only see how to clear or switch view. Thanks
(Catalina, Mac27inch, 30 years Apple champion)
It goes by "opened" date. You can always create a Smart Folder of your own that uses another criteria. Not sure how OneDrive works with this since I don't use it. But it should work like any other files.
@@macmost Thanks for the reply, the word doc was opened, I read it closed it and it doesn't show up. The same for a .mov I created. I am trying to have good 'saving to a folder' practices (I hate that many times it trys to save to Preview or other in iCloud by default) but sometimes forget and Recents is usually helpful. Searching many ways has not found the .mov but the Word doc. was in OneDrive automatically like the iCloud grab argg
Do you have a video on Smart folders (will look) can try it
@@denisemc607 Maybe an issue with OneDrive? My most recent Smart Folders tutorial is: ruclips.net/video/-woVNkHV_Lw/видео.html
Some interesting tips here.
When I open a file in excel by going to file/open recent it is not updating the Date Last Opened and Date Modified fields on the file. In order to see the correct dates I have to select the file and open from outside excel. There are 2 files that I update daily. The information on the recent docs folder shows a date that is 2 weeks old. Do you know why this happens?
So inside Excel it shows old dates, but in the Finder it is correct? That would be a bug in Excel. I'd contact Microsoft support about it.
@@macmost It's reversed. The dates are incorrect in Finder if I open them from file/open recent in excel.
@@lmeriwe Not sure why that would be. Are they local files, or in Microsoft's cloud? If local or iCloud, then I have no idea why they would be wrong. If in Microsoft's OneDrive service, then it could be a bug in that service.
@@macmost They reside on iCloud. Maybe I will report to excel. Thanks for responding!
What happens if I did not opened it recently and its showing that I did?
Is it a bug or someone may be having access to my files?
When I click for more info, it says the files were opened long time ago, so why is it showing on the recents folder? Hope you can help me, please, I'm very concerned, these are personal files. :(
Impossible to guess without a firsthand look and even then. Recents will list a lot of files and the dates can go back months or years. Maybe you have them sorted by name or something else? Sort by the Date Last Opened column to see them in an order that makes sense.
@@macmost Just saw your message. Thank you so much for your help!!! It was indeed sorted by name
I find that the Recents view doesn't excludes some file types, which really limits its usefulness. Webloc files and some third-party documents for example are not listed.
Remember that it is showing files by "last opened" date. So webloc files aren't really ever "opened." They are just links that are used. You can see that when you use them, the "last opened" date doesn't change. For that to change, there would need to be some app that actually opened them and let you examine and edit the contents.
I wanna give my laptop to someone, i have signout from icloud, but from recent i still could open the file. How to clean my laptop without erasing the apps
Use System Settings, General, Transfer or Reset, Erase All Content and Settings. That will reset it completely, but they should still have the default apps. Any other apps are licensed to you anyway and they shouldn't get those.
@@macmost Thanks for your Help. God Bless
Removing "Recents" from the Sidebar does not stop Apple from tracking every file you ever open forever... Thanks big brother. Is there really no way to clear it completely?
I understand your concern here brother, but that isn't how the system works. The computer itself stores and memorizes the locations of your files (it couldn't operate if it didn't), but it isn't as though its sending all of that data back to the execs at Apple.
Is there a way to show recent files saved or opened from Microsoft OneDrive? I use a personal and a school OneDrive and every time I want to submit an assignment, I can’t upload from my OneDrive because it doesn’t show on my recents. I have to save the document to my desktop to be able to upload and submit an assignment.
Why do you need to see it in your recents? Just look on your OneDrive where you saved it and upload it from there.
I can’t get to my OneDrive because I have two accounts so using the recents would be faster. The school’s OneDrive account added automatically so I can’t open documents from OneDrive as easily.
@@pippi0985 The files need to be on your drive for them to appear in Recents. If you are logged into another account, that can't happen. You'll need to work out another way.
That's good on your part Gary, but all other You tube posters that I have subscribed to, I don't get them either. Why would Google do something so strange? Makes no sense to me. Thanks for your replies. You are the Best!
i have a question (i'm using mojave on a '17 macbook pro): i was setting up a second user account and i noticed that the contents of the "recents" folder for both users is exactly the same even though the new user account hadn't yet been used. so i thought i would uncheck "recents" in finder preferences to ensure privacy.
the problem with this "solution" is that it does not require an admin password so anyone with access to any user account can easily go to finder>pref. and check "recents" and they not only will see everything but will have access to all "recents" files including those on other user accounts. is there a way to prevent users from seeing and accessing the files in the "'recents" folder of other users?
i've locked a few docs but this is too labor intensive, i'm thinking of creating an encrypted folder but not sure how it will behave; i'm not sure if individual files will be 'unopenable' to other users if they are not individually locked. i'm guessing the files will be visible and most likely not openable. but it seems very odd to have the "recents" folder shared across all users.
and many thanks for all your great videos!
That shouldn't be the case. Are both user accounts using the same iCloud account/Apple ID? Are you sure you were logged into the second account. You can't open any files from one user account to another unless you work hard to set up file permissions. Perhaps these files were on an external drive or some other shared space?
@@macmost yes that's it, they share the same apple id - thanks that didn't occur to me - i wanted to set up a more secure user account to use just for financial type-stuff and thought i'd put these sensitive files in the admin account, which has a far stronger password, that way i wouldn't have to partition my hard drive. again many thanks for you reply!
how can we remove everything from recents its so annoying.
Recents is recents. It is, by definition, your recently-accessed files. If that isn't want you want, create something else instead. I'm not sure what it is you want though.
Every Time someone uploaded a video I used to get a email in outlook but now I don't. Did Google do something?
support.google.com/youtube/thread/63269933?hl=en
macmostvideo ahh I see, thanks for the heads up, I thought there was a problem on my end when I did not receive any notifications.
Google made the wrong choice yet again!
Hi Gary. How do we get our notifications back in our Social Heading in Gmail since You-Tube stop sending them? Makes no sense when You-Tube is part of Google.
Do you mean the notifications that RUclips sent out when a new video posted? RUclips stopped sending those a week ago.
macmostvideo Yes so how do we get them coming back into our Gmail. Nothing shows up anymore and I feel I am missing out on your valuable information.
@@khill50able That feature has simply been removed from RUclips. They don't do it anymore. I have a weekly newsletter where I post links to all of my new videos every week. macmost.com/newsletter
My finder don't have all this opinions MacBook Air 2021
Which options, exactly. And where?
If recents is not a folder then it must not be written as "understanding the recents folder on a mac" in your video title.
(Thinking back 4 years ago when I made this video) -- Just naming it to match what people who don't understand Recents would be searching for. People call it that. Apple also uses the term "Smart Folders" which aren't folders either. Also, a hamburger isn't made of ham, a hot dog isn't made from dog, and neither jellyfish nor starfish are fish.
@@macmost i love this guy. Thanks for an energetic response. I am stuck in mail app smtp setup and it doesn’t send emails. I guess i posted a comment someone on your videos but that is the problem i couldn’t find a solution for days. There is no video on fixing that problem
@@ProAttique That's because there isn't "that problem" -- as in a single thing that causes this. Could be lots of things. You need to investigate. If you have tried everything you can think of, including just removing and-re-adding the email account (assuming it is IMAP or similar), then the next step is to work with either your email provider's support or Apple Support.
@@macmost well i can describe a little bit of the whole situation.
There are 4 gmail accounts linked to my mail app, one icloud and one yahoo account.
I am also a content creator with lots of tutorials on my channel. I was guiding my audience about mail app crashes and the other day i got problems.
I checked everything with my mail app and did hours of research on chatgpt, apple support and gmail itself but couldn’t find any solutions.
I receive emails on all accounts but can’t send any email. Each time i try to send, it gives an outgoing mail smtp error. I checked more than 50 times but my smtp configuration is 100% accurate for all accounts.
I logged out all accounts and then logged in again but nothing resolved the issue. Updated sonoma to sequoia beta version bit the problem is still there. Kept only one account in mail app but got same smtp error.
Fixed cache and temp files but nothing worked.
Checked mail doctor and that says everything is fine with the accounts on mail app. I tried sending emails from phone mail app and that works fine. So i got no choice but to give up mail app.
For some time now, my recents folder has been empty. How can I get it to work again?
Try this: support.apple.com/HT201716
This is a mess!
Apple 🤢 Why I can’t clean a list? Why, Apple, why?
Do you mean the Recents Folder? It isn't a list. It is the results of a live search.
@ yes, the Recent “Folder”. Why can’t be cleaned?
@@georgemarian9993 Like I said, it is the result of a search. It shows you which files have been opened recently. That's a fact. You can't clean the "reality" of which files have been opened recently.
Way to fast for a novice 😢
See ruclips.net/video/liZTyiy9NnU/видео.html