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Recent Documents Not Showing in Microsoft Word? Here’s How to Fix it
Unlink your cloud and see documents reappear
4 min. read
Updated onOctober 21, 2024
updated onOctober 21, 2024
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Recent documents in Word help you retrieve your documents faster without opening File Explorer but if they are not showing, it can be a big inconvenience to go back and start perusing through folders.
If you can’t locate any recent document when you open Word, it’s probably a glitch with Microsoft apps, a corrupt cache or a change in file location. You may also have installed a new app or plugin that tampered with your Word settings.
What can I do if recent documents are not showing in Word?
1. Log out and log back in
You can also try logging in to your Microsoft Office account withWord for weband see if the issue persists.
2. Clear Microsoft cache and run Microsoft Word in Safe Mode
3. Adjust the number of recent documents
4. Switch off MS Word’s Add-ins
5. Unlink OneDrive
If you’ve connected your Microsoft account to sync with your OneDrive, it continuously syncs with the local files in your drive. However, if there are any network interruptions, there may be sync issues causing some discrepancies.
Further, if your documents have set permissions, linking with OneDrive may limit document visibility hence the reason why they may not show up in recent documents.
6. Repair MS Office
If the recent documents section fails to reappear after a repair, tryresetting your Word to default settingsand see if this helps.
7. Reinstall Microsoft Office
Unfortunately, this issue is not unique to Microsoft Word. It may occur in any other Microsoft Office app like Excel or PowerPoint so the same solutions apply.
Speaking of recent files, you may also run into an issue where they’renot showing in the Quick Access toolbarso check out how to get them back. In case you recently deleted files that should be appearing in this section, you can alwaysrecover them.
If this issue happens often, you may also want to check whether yourWord documents are not savingand address this issue first. This could be the reason why yoursignatures are also not showing.
That’s a wrap from us but we’d love to hear from you if you have any other solutions up your sleeve. Share them with us in the comment section below.
More about the topics:Microsoft Word issues
Claire Moraa
Windows Software Expert
Claire has a knack for solving problems and improving the quality of life for those around her. She’s driven by rationality, curiosity, and simplicity, and always eager to learn more about Microsoft’s products. With a background in teaching and reviewing, she breaks down complex topics into easily understandable articles, focusing mostly on Windows 11, errors, and software.
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Claire Moraa
Windows Software Expert
With a background in teaching and reviewing, she breaks down complex topics into easily understandable articles, focusing mostly on Windows 11 errors.
