How to see an app's recent files in Windows 11

Find recent files in Windows

1. Open File Explorer and choose Home. Look under Recent for files you have used lately.
2. Right-click an app's taskbar icon. Its jump list can show recent files associated with that app.
3. Open Start. Look under Recent for recently used files. This section was previously called Recommended.

The taskbar jump list already gives you an app-specific route. Glassline adds access from the name of the app you are using, with its open windows beside the files.

See files from the menu bar

1. Install Glassline from the Microsoft Store. Open it to get the menu bar and dock.
2. Bring the app you want to the front. Its name appears at the left end of the menu bar. Check that this is the app whose recent files you want to see.
3. Click the app's name. Its panel opens with small pictures of its open windows and the files it opened lately.
4. Look under Recent. Read the list of up to five files supplied by that app.

For another app, bring its window to the front and click its name in the bar. The name follows the app you are using, so this same action takes you to each app's own panel.

Turn on App panel

App panel is on after a new install and after an update. If clicking the name does nothing, check its switch.

1. Right-click the menu bar. Choose Glassline Settings.
2. Open Menu Bar. Find App panel and turn it on.
3. Click your app's name again. Its panel now opens from the bar.

Understand a missing Recent list

The recent files come from the app itself. If an app keeps no list of files, its panel has no Recent section. App panel controls whether the panel opens; it does not create a file history for that app.

Check which app's name is showing before looking for a file. If you have switched apps since working on it, bring the original app forward and open its panel. The list belongs to that app, so each panel can show different files.