How can I re-activate my recently used files check box?

[B²]

I don't know what triggered it, but a while ago my recently used file option
in all of my MS office programs became de-activated (grayed out). I can't
click the checkbox to have any of the programs remember my recently used
files or change the number of files that it remembers.

 

[Me]

Tools -> Options -> General; but may vary according to the version.

 

[JLD]

An astute gentleman named Gary Smith addressed this concern on
12/20/03:

Run regedit and navigate to

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer


and check whether the value of NoRecentDocsHistory is set to 1. If so,
set it to zero and the "Recently Used" list should become available. If

that doesn't work, there may be a group policy involved.

I found this solution worked. I do not know how the key got set to 1
on my system - it was probably Office XP SP3 - but nothing I installed
asked to confirm such a change.

 

[Beth Melton]

Typically the setting is changed as a result of using TweakUI to
modify your Recent Document settings.

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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Beth Melton
Microsoft Office MVP

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