‘My Recent Documents’ (Word 2003)

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Dear Experts:

Does anyone know how to set up Word so that when you open a document, and click on

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(Edited by JanB on 09-Aug-06 09:01. Content removed, because not true.)

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My Recent Document shows the contents of the folder C:Documents and SettingsApplication DataMicrosoftOfficeRecent. This folder contains shortcuts to all folders and files that have been opened in any Office application recently. I never use it, because it is not specific to the application you’re using, so you always see items that are irrelevant to what you’re doing.

You can make Word display up to 9 recently opened documents in the File menu and in the Getting Started task pane:
– Select Tools | Options…
– Activate the General tab.
– Tick the check box ‘Recently used file list’ and enter a number between 1 and 9 in the box next to it (or use the up/down buttons).
– Click OK.
The file menu will list the documents with the most recently opened one at the top.

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Thanks, Hans, I knew about that trick to make Word show up to 9 documents in the “Getting Started” task pane.

I just find 2 problems with that. First, it disappears when I open up the first document. Second, I can’t select multiple documents at once. For example, when I go to “My recent documents” in “Open” dialogue box, I can select a document, then press “control,” and select others. This is why I like this dialogue box so much and regret that I don’t always get the documents I need.

I tried the Word “Work” menu, but it has the same problem as the Getting Started task pane; I have to slowly select and open each document individually.

Thanks!

John

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> First, it disappears when I open up the first document.

That isn’t normal. I wonder whether you have some kind of customization in your environment that is resetting the option. For example, companies that use Document Management System software often have a template that prevents opening documents directly from recently used files, requiring instead, for auditing reasons, that the documents be opened through their own interfaces. Or maybe some kind of privacy software that prevents Windows/Office from keeping track of what you are doing on the computer.

Actually, you’re referring to the task pane, and I was thinking of the bottom of the File menu. Perhaps these behave differently.

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You could try the attached template (as a global template). The procedure OpenMyRecentDocuments uses the Windows API to display a filtered view of the Recent folder. It finds the recent folder by working backwards from one of Word’s default paths. If you have changed this path, that will fail. You could hardcode it instead.

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There is a free add-in that lets you control how the task pane behaves when you open a document: Controlling the Task Pane, even when add-ins are present. It still won’t let you open multiple documents at once, though.

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