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How to Clear or Remove the Recent file list in mobile apps

I want to clear all the Recent file list, there has no clear function please advise how to clear the list.
Thanks & regards

Swe Tin

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Accepted answers

Sam DBX

Hi everybody,

We’d like to provide an update on this topic:

Keep in mind that you can completely hide the Recents section with the new modular home layout on mobile:

1. Open the Dropbox mobile app.

2. Tap the customize icon (artist palette) 🎨

3. To add or remove a default section, tap the toggle next to Recents, Starred, Camera Uploads, 4. Viewed links, Shared, or Offline.

5. Tap Save to save your changes.

You can find more info in here.

Also, based on your comments, our team is working on improving the recents list update (when an item is deleted remotely). Thank you for sharing your feedback on this.

We'll keep you in the loop for future features related to this.

Sam

All comments

Mariedb

Hi there!

I'm afraid that there is no way to disable the Recents tab from the Dropbox app installed on your iOS device. However, we love hearing feedback on any features that we release, so I'll make sure to pass it along.

Thanks!

Swe T.

Marie

Thanks for your answer, my question is not to disable the Recent Tab, but to clear the list only. This is for privacy and personal preference. Appreciate Dropbox team can add this function in next update.

regards

Swe Tin

Mariedb

Hi there!

Same goes for clearing the Recents tab, it's not a feature that is possible for the moment, but I'll pass your comments along

Earle R.1

Please include option for clearing recent files viewed or clearing selected files from recent list.

Samuli P.

+1 This should be easy to add - and very important for privacy reasons when using a shared device.

Mariedb

Hi there,

Thanks for the feedback all.

I have passed on your feedback to our team.

Do let me know if there's anything else I can help with!

Thanks!

James E.14

This is a serious problem. I would not have used Dropbox had I known about this oversight.

Zenyk K.

I also feel that this is a security issue that needs resolving quickly!

Mariedb

Hi there,

Thanks for writing back about this.

I understand your concern. The files that appear in your Dropbox are files that are anyway stored in your account and we only surface the ones that have been recently modified by yourself.

I have passed on your comments.

Many thanks!

Tracy C.8

A "Recents" view is to be added to the Android OS soon. A simple means of disabling or easily clearing this view will be expected by users.

Swe T.

Why only in Android OS, why not for iOS? I am using iPhone all round. Very much appreciate it will be update to iOS also. Please. I requested this feature quite a long time ago.

Thanks & best regards

Aaron W.14

I want to also petition for an immediate upgrade to at the very least clear this recent tab. It's the default view when opening the app and I use Dropbox for privacy. I don't need my kids seeing the private files and pictures that are popping up on the recent tab so I will be forced to use a different app. Please make this a priority.

Albert G.6

This is clearly a pain. It just confirms that I am right to get away from dropbox.

Albert G.6

And to make the matter worse, deleting a file does not remove it from the recent list: that is even more of an issue. Removing a file means exactly this: remove it, get rid of it! It should not appear anywhere - certainly not on the "recents" list.

Jeremy G.3

Yes, please include both an option to get rid of the "Recents" tab and an option to clear it. How could you think it's okay to add this feature without either of those options? Now I can't use Dropbox in front of other people.

Fevil P.

PLEASE create a way to clear recents or im leaving dropbox

Aharon M.

option of clear recent file list it is needed for sure. thanks

Mike S.25

Very disapointed in dropbox i dont like the fact that recents cant be cleared maybe its time to move from dropbox

L L.4

Albert G.

I had the same problem you have. Signing out and signing back in on the iOS app should remove the deleted file from the recent list. I consider this a workaround, not a solution for something that the dropbox team needs to code.

Earle R.1

Signing out and signing back in does not clear recents list.

Survey:

Do you prefer not to have this feature at all ? (1) or have this feature without option to clear recents? (2)

my response: (1)

Maybe The DropBox Team will respond to this.

L L.4

@Earle R.

signing out and signing in only clears files that have been deleted from dropbox from the recent list in the iOS app. At least it worked for me.

Swe T.

Signing out and signing in not clear the recent file list. It doesn't work for me.

Brian S.98

This post is six months old, now. Is this getting fixed, or what?

Jean Guy N.

Has this been fixed in any way. I have to renew my subscription to Dropbox. OR NOT.

Kevin G.18

I am almost ready to quit dropbox if this issue on clearing the "recents" does not get fixed!!!

Peter O.20

Why is this taking so long? I want to be able to clear items from Recents but not have them removed from Dropbox all together. I too will have to consider not renewing.

Mike S.25

Yea dont think there going to fix it im starting to move to google drive good bye dropbox

Wendy S.18

with any standard text editor.

Open the plist file in the editor of your choice, and you can see the layout showing "Applications", "Documents," "Hosts," and "Servers" categories, all defined by their own "" tags. In each of these there is a "CustomListItems" category (defined as an array) that contains each of the recent items for that category. Find the name of the recent item and remove the whole entry for the item (all the contents between the "" and "" tags for the item, including the tags themselves).

Save the plist and then log out of the computer. Once you log back in, the change will take effect (just restarting the Finder will have no effect).

Thanks ,

MADHUKAR B.

D M.6

Marie, you stated that "the files that appear in your Dropbox are files that are anyway stored in your account". That's not true. I deleted a file from my Dropbox, but it still appears in the recent file list. Also, since it still appears I can open up the file even though it shouldn't even exist.