"Open Recent" blank in all apps

[wowser]

I thought an update to Snow Leopard would sort this, but no luck.

My "Open Recent" lists in every single app are always blank, even though I have opened docs using them. I have fiddled about in Preferences > Appearance > Number of Recent Items, changing it from 10 to 15 to 0 back to 15, but no luck. It's ALWAYS blank.

I've not found anyone with a similar problem who's managed to sort it. Any ideas?

 

[Gregg2]

com.apple.recentitems.plist

Find the above file in your Users > Home folder > Library > Preferences
Drag it to your Desktop
Restart

Set the number of Recent Items again for good measure, then open several files so you can see if things are "registering" now.

If that fixes it, Trash the file you moved to the Desktop.

If not, post again. There has to be a solution somewhere...

 

[wowser]

Still no dice, sadly.

 

[Gregg2]

Have you tried logging in as a different user? If you only have 1 user, create a new one with Administrator privileges.

 

[wowser]

Would I have to then use that account permanently? i

 

[jbickers]

the other user is just to test, its results tell us if its a user based problem or a system wide problem (the first guy tried to identify if it was user based by pulling a user based preference)

 

[wowser]

Good thinking - Recent items WORKED for the other account I created. So it's something to do with my account, eh?

 

[Gregg2]

Yes. Same answer to your previous question... Dump your old User and create a new one (to use the old name) or use the new one you already created.

 

[wowser]

Is this the only way?

 

[Gregg2]

Why are you reluctant? Your new account works! Be happy!

 

[wowser]

Starting over with a new login? I can't even seem to get access to the files on the other account, however I set the permissions on them.

 

[Ashka]

Just try setting the preferences again on your original account:
System Prefs > Appearance > Recent Items.

Not the first and probably not the last to have SL switch recent items to None.
S.

 

[Gregg2]

Starting over with a new login? I can't even seem to get access to the files on the other account, however I set the permissions on them.

In the Finder, go to Help > Mac Help
Click Index, then Accounts - lots of topics
"Creating a new user account" is probably what you want to read first.

Just try setting the preferences again on your original account: System Prefs > Appearance > Recent Items.

OP said that was done. Why would doing it again work now?

 

[wowser]

I think I'll just live with it. I can't be bothered setting up a new account.

 

[GGJstudios]

Find the above file ...

That file only affects the Recent Items that appear on the  menu. It doesn't affect the Recent Items that appear in each application. For many apps, the Recent Items appears in the .plist file for that application, but not always. Actually, the OP's problem is something I've wanted the ability to do intentionally: Clear all Recent Items from all apps at the same time. I haven't found any method to accomplish this. I agree with the OP that it's a pain to create a new user account and have to re-configure it to match your previous account.

To the OP: try deleting the .plist for a particular app, such as Preview:

​

then relaunch the app. See if that works on one app. If it does, you can try deleting the .plist files for as many apps as you can find.

 

[Gregg2]

That file* only affects the Recent Items that appear on the  menu.

*com.apple.recentitems.plist (to save anyone the trouble of looking back)

Thanks for that info. Your strategy might be something the OP should try, but... I have to wonder why this would happen to several applications rather than just to one.

 

[wowser]

Thanks for the suggestion, GGJstudios. While it didn't work, it was worth trying. The whole situation is very odd I feel, especially since it wasn't fixed by the Snow leopard upgrade.

 

[wowser]

Sorry to return to this two-year old thread, but the problem still persists and I wondered if anyone else had any ideas. Weirdly, or maybe not weirdly, the problem occurs in all programes except Ableton Live, Gimp and Inkscape. Hmm.