The drawback of this method is that you will no longer be able to use Spotlight to search for your files.

If you want to completely disable the “Recents” folder, there’s the drastic but effective option of disabling Spotlight searches for all of the documents on your Mac’s hard drive.

The “Recents” folder is powered by Spotlight. RELATED: How to Instantly Go to Locations and Folders in OS X The Nuclear Option: Completely Disable the “Recents” Folder However, it will still be accessible through Finder’s “Go” menu in the menu bar at the top of the screen. In the menu that appears, select “Remove from Sidebar.”Īfter performing these two steps, you won’t see the “Recents” folder in your day-to-day activities anymore. Open a new Finder window and right-click “Recents” in the sidebar. Next, we’ll remove the “Recents” shortcut located in the Finder sidebar by default.

In our example, we chose our home folder. You can choose any location other than “Recents” depending on your personal preference. When the menu expands, select a new folder location that you’d like to see every time you open a new Finder window.

Disable folder preview mac os x