The My Recent Documents folder on the Windows XP Start menu displays a list of files and documents that you most recently used. This feature is great when you don’t remember where you saved your recent file, you can than go to the My Recent Documents folder from your start menu to access these files.

To display the My Recent Documents folder on the Start menu:

1. Right-click Start, and then click Properties. Or, if the Start menu is already displayed, right-click an empty area of the Start menu, and then click Properties.
2. Click Customize.
3. Click the Advanced tab.
4. Under Recent documents, click to select the List my most recently opened documents check box, click OK, and then click OK. The next time you click Start, the My Recent Documents command is displayed on the Start menu.

If you would like to keep your information private from other people who share your computer, follow these steps to clear and or disable this feature.

To clear the My Recent Documents list, follow these steps:

1. Right-click Start, and then click Properties. Or, if the Start menu is already displayed, right-click an empty area of the Start menu, and then click Properties.
2. Click Customize.
3. Click the Advanced tab.
4. Under Recent documents, click Clear List, click OK, and then click OK. Your most recently used documents are removed from the My Recent Documents folder. Note that this action does not delete the documents from your hard disk.

To disable this feature, follow these steps:

1. Right-click Start, and then click Properties. Or, if the Start menu is already displayed, right-click an empty area of the Start menu, and then click Properties.
2. Click Customize.
3. Click the Advanced tab.
4. Under Recent documents, uncheck the box where it says “List my most recently opened documents”.