# How do I clear Recent files on Android? — Adinand Auto File Sorter Last reviewed: October 20, 2026. HTML version: https://adinandsorter.com/answers/clear-recent-files-on-android **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](https://support.google.com/files/answer/9765314?hl=en), read 20 October 2026). The rest of the app's layout is on [our Files by Google page](https://adinandsorter.com/answers/how-to-use-the-google-files-app). 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](https://support.google.com/files/answer/9765313?hl=en), 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](https://www.samsung.com/uk/support/mobile-devices/where-can-i-find-downloaded-files-on-my-samsung-galaxy-smartphone/), 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](https://galaxystore.samsung.com/detail/com.sec.android.app.myfiles), 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](https://support.google.com/files/answer/9935264?hl=en), 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](https://adinandsorter.com/answers/lock-a-folder-on-android).

## 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](https://adinandsorter.com/answers/access-recycle-bin-on-android).

Related: [How to use the Google Files app](https://adinandsorter.com/answers/how-to-use-the-google-files-app) · [How Samsung My Files works](https://adinandsorter.com/answers/how-does-samsung-my-files-work) · [Hiding files on Android](https://adinandsorter.com/answers/hide-files-on-android) · [Opening the recycle bin on Android](https://adinandsorter.com/answers/access-recycle-bin-on-android)