How do you clear Recents on Mac without deleting

1. How do you clear Recents on Mac without deleting

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Some of you may try to clear Recents on Mac to free up space on Macintosh HD, but only to find that you can’t delete the Recents folder on Mac. If you clear the files that are showing up in this folder, the original files will be put in the Mac trash.

If you can’t delete the Recents folder on Mac, what else can you do if you want to clear Recents on Mac without deleting? You can enable those files not to show up in the Recents folder but the Recents folder still can be found in Finder. There are several ways to achieve it. Some of them are easy, and some require some technical skills.

Following are 3 ways to clear Recents on Mac without deleting:

1.1. Method 1: Hide Startup Disk from Spotlight Search

Spotlight search is an app that runs in the background all the time and tracks all file modifications on your Mac. In a nutshell, it is responsible for creating an index of all the files on the Disk and aware of all the changes done on the File or folder.

Therefore, hiding the entire startup disk from the Spotlight search helps delete items from Recents. To do so, try the below steps:

• Click on the Apple logo.
• Select System Preferences > Spotlight.
• Click the Privacy tab.
• Locate the + icon and click on it to open the Finder window.
• Click on Macintosh HD under Locations and then click Choose.
• Accept the warning message, and click OK.

Now, open the Recents folder in the Finder, and you can see it’s absolutely empty. However, these changes could create problems for you. Removing the entire disk will exclude all its contents from the Spotlight Search, i.e., you will not be able to find any file with the search function in the Finder.

But, at the same time, this can make the Mac much faster because the indexing process has been stopped. Hence, CPU Usage will be less. Sometimes, people even suggest doing this when the Mac runs slow.

This will show you whether you have permission to write or modify the file.

1.2. More: Hide Recents from Finder:

1.2.1. Method 1

• Open Finder on Mac.
• From the Mac top menu, select Finder > Preferences.
• Switch to the Sidebar tab, then uncheck the Recents option.

1.2.2. Method 2

• Open Finder and find the Recents tab under Favorites.
• Right-click on the Recents tab.
• Select Remove from Sidebar.