How do I clear Recent files on Android?

Last reviewed: October 20, 2026 · Markdown version

There is usually nothing to clear, because Recent is a list your file manager draws up, not a place where files are kept. Google and Samsung both describe it as a view of files you added, downloaded, opened or changed lately, and neither of them documents a button that empties it. What you can decide is what should happen to a file you do not want showing there: leave it, delete it, or put it behind a lock.

Recents in Files by Google

Google gives it one sentence: "Under the Recents section, you can view your recently added, downloaded, and modified files" (View your files, Files by Google Help, read 20 October 2026). The rest of the app's layout is on our Files by Google page. Google's deleting steps do not start from Recents at all: they begin "Tap a category or a storage device" and end with "Move x file(s) to Trash" (Delete files using the Browse tab, Files by Google Help, read 20 October 2026). Neither page mentions taking a file off the Recents list while keeping the file.

Recent files in Samsung My Files

Samsung's UK guide describes the section as the place where "all your most recently used files are displayed", adding: "Tap the last file in this section to see all your recently used files in order of use" (Where to find downloaded files & my files folder on Samsung phone, Samsung UK, read 20 October 2026). The app's store listing words it differently: "The Recent Files list: Files the user has downloaded, run, and/or opened" (Samsung My Files, Galaxy Store, read 20 October 2026). Neither the guide nor the listing says how to clear the list or hide the section. Your phone's menus may offer something; we are not going to describe a path Samsung does not document.

If you only dislike seeing it

Samsung's phrase "in order of use" suggests the list is ordered by what you used last, so a file you stop opening should slide down as you use others. That is our reading of the wording, not something either company spells out. For a file that is fine to keep, doing nothing is a reasonable answer.

If someone else must not see it

Then the list is a symptom and the file is the thing to deal with. Files by Google's Safe folder exists for this: "You can hide files in your Safe folder and control access with a PIN", and Google's warning on the same page is "If you forget your PIN or Pattern, you can't access your files" (Protect your files with Safe folder, Files by Google Help, read 20 October 2026). Google's page does not say whether a file disappears from Recents once it is in Safe folder, so open Recents afterwards and look. Galaxy phones have Secure Folder as well; the options are compared on our page about locking a folder.

If you no longer want the file

Delete it the normal way, from its category or folder, as in Google's steps above. A deleted file is not always gone at once: Samsung's guide says recently deleted files "can often be restored from the Recycle bin" (the Samsung UK page above), so a bin keeps a list of its own; how to open and empty it.