How to Clear Recent in Google Drive

With the innovative features of the popular cloud storage solution – Google Drive, collaboration has become easier than ever. Along with synchronizing and sharing files between multiple users, it also allows you to check the recently accessed files and folders. We have created a proper guide on how to clear recent in google drive to help you know more about it.

Popularly known as the recent activity on google drive, it’s simply a depiction of activities. Also, it is carried out by multiple users on files and folders uploaded in a drive account. Although it’s a beneficial feature, you may not like people accessing your information, especially on a public computer. 

Keeping that in mind, Google Drive allows you to remove your recently accessed files and folder. Moreover, you can even remove the activity and allows you to keep the log clean.

Here’s a comprehensive guide to help you clear recent in Google Drive on multiple platforms: 

How To Clear Recent In Google Drive

1. Delete Individually from The Recent Tab

Although deleting every document and file access history can be pretty intimidating. It is by far the easiest and most non-techie method to delete recent activity in your Google Drive.

Once you’ve removed your activity using this method, nobody can view it anymore. Here’s a step-by-step process to do it: 

• Firstly, you need to click on the recent tab. lt is located on the left side of your screen, under your shared.

• Once you’ve clicked on it, you’ll see a list of all your files, folder, and documents that you’ve accessed. To delete a specific file, you just need to right-click on it. Now, choose the Remove option from the popup window of that app.
• When you click on the remove option, the Google Drive interface will ask for a confirmation. If you click on proceed, the specified file will be deleted from your recent history. And it can’t be seen even across multiple devices where your account is logged in.

Read How to Organize Google Drive?

2. Deleting Recent Activity from Drive with Android Smartphone 

If you’re unable to access your personal computer and need to get your recently accessed documents cleared from your Google Drive, you need not worry.

This task can also be done using an Android smartphone with the Google Drive application installed. Here’s how you need to do it stepwise:

• Foremost of all, if you don’t have the drive app already installed on your smartphone, you need to navigate to Google Play Store and download it. 
• Once you’ve downloaded the application, you need to open it and login with your preferred login account. After successfully logging in to the application, you may proceed with the further steps. 
• You need to tap on the three horizontal lines located at the top-left corner of your screen on the smartphone application. This opens a menu with various options related to storage and backups. You need to select the Recent option from this list.

• This shows a list of all the documents accessed recently from your Google Drive account. To delete these records, you need to click on the three dots located next to the file.
• Now, tap on the dropdown menu’s remove button.

The steps for an android smartphone are quite similar to that of the desktop. Also, the difference only lies in the user interface. Regardless of the method you choose, the files will be successfully deleted from your recent tab.

Check out, How To Recover Permanently Deleted Photos From Google Drive.

How to Remove Shared Files and Folders from Google Drive?

Even if you’ve removed a file from the Recent tab, it can still be accessed by people you’ve shared it with. However, to regain their ability to access your file, you can follow the steps given below for the sake of privacy: 

• Firstly, you need to start by opening Google Drive on your computer.
• With your choice of preferred browser, enter the URL drive.google.com and hit the enter key on your keyboard. 
• As the website loads on your screen, Select the Shared with me option located at the left-hand menu. It will display a list of all the files and folders that can be accessed by people you’ve shared them with.

• To remove the specific file from shared items, you just need to right-click on the preferred file.
• Now, choose the remove from recent option from the menu that appears on the screen. 

This will successfully revoke access to your files and folder from people you’ve shared them with. However, you must know that the files you delete from here will have no impact on the files found in the recent tab, and you still need to clear them individually.

Read: How to Block Someone on Google Drive

Can I clear Recent in Google Drive without deleting the files permanently?

No. If you are following the steps above and deleting the files as we have mentioned in the above guide from your Recent Activity. All your files will be moved to Trash or Bin of your Google Drive.

Thanks to the Trash, all your files even if accidentally deleted are available to be restored for about 30 days.

Moving on, the conclusion to all of the above is that you need to be clear on what you need from the files. It sure does look cluttered. But there is no way to clear them out without having to remove them permanently. The same process goes for Android devices as well.

Read: How to get Google Drive icon on Taskbar

Frequently Asked Questions

1. What is the recent folder in Google Drive?

The recent folder located in Google Drive is a collection of links arranged symbolically to provide you quick access to the files you’ve been working on recently. The files you delete from the recent folder also disappear from their parent folder.

2. How do I hide my activity on Google Drive? 

The activity view feature in Google Drive allows people with an accessible link to your file to track your views on it. To disable it, you need to navigate through the activity dashboard to find the Privacy Settings option. And, click on it. This’ll provide you the opportunity to turn off your activity view for other people.

3. How do I clear my Google Drive? 

There’s no option to delete all your files at a single go, but you can quickly delete individual files using the exact same steps as stated for clearing files from the recent tab. The same steps can be used for every file and folder available in your Google Drive.

You may like the following Google Drive tutorials:

• How to Share Videos on Google Drive
• Google Drive not Uploading from Phone Error
• How To Password Protect Google Drive Folder
• Download quota exceeded google drive
• How to Upload Large Files to Google Drive
• Google Drive vs OneDrive

Final Words

Being able to access the files you’ve been recently working on contributes significantly to your productivity. However, if you’re using your Google Drive on a public computer, you don’t need a reason to hide your activity from the other users. 

With the methods shared above, you can quickly clear your Google Drive recent history across multiple devices. While following the steps shared above, make sure you follow them correctly to ensure that things go the proper way.