First you should backup the entire Windows registry.

When prompted Do you want to allow this app to make changes to your device?, select Yes.

In Windows 10 search box type regedit and press Enter.

If you do edit the registry, always make sure you first make a backup. Working with Windows registry is like doing a brain surgery on your Windows computer. WARNING! The following procedure requires modification to the registry, which should only be done by trained professionals who know how to work with Windows registry. Please read the following warning before you consider editing the registry. To clear the list of Recent pictures in Paint, you can edit the Windows registry. If I am writing this article then of course there must be a way to clear this list and you are now expecting me to show you how. NOTE: The steps described in this article also apply to Windows 10 WordPad. It displays up to nine images and there is no simple way to clear the list.

Unfortunately, it’s not as kind as Microsoft Office apps and doesn’t offer the ability to delete images from the Recent pictures list from within Paint. Microsoft Paint is a simple desktop application that’s convenient to use and is included in all Windows 10 editions. Other apps don’t always offer such functionality. Guess what everybody would be looking at when they go to File menu in Microsoft Word? You got it! A list of their recently opened files.Īt least Microsoft Office apps allow you to easily clear the list or customize the number of documents you want to display on the list, anywhere from 0 to 50. Sooner or later they are going to be in a Microsoft Teams, GoToMeeting, or Zoom meeting and open a new file in a screen-sharing session. If they open files received from other organizations, they will be displayed in the recent files list. However, they can’t control how people outside the organization name their files. Well, if they heed my advice then they do. You might wonder, why don’t they just stop adding metadata to the files which can potentially reveal confidential data. That’s one reason why I want my clients with sensitive data to get into a habit of cleaning up the recent files list, or at least minimize the number of files that are displayed.

As a Digital Forensic Investigator, I am able to gather useful data from the recent files lists in Microsoft Office and other apps. One good reason for removing recent files from the list is that they can sometimes show potentially confidential information or give some hints that can be used to extract useful information. For privacy reasons, I am always looking for ways to clean the recent files that are displayed in applications.

How to clean registry files in xp