Windows 10 Why are Recent shortcuts (automatic & customs destinations) still stored although options disabled?

When you're disabling the display of recent items and app shortcuts in the Windows Start menu, it typically only affects the visibility within the Start menu itself or File Explorer jump lists. The manual removal of certain recent item shortcuts from the directories you mentioned isn't influenced by these settings. Here's how to proceed: 1. Manual Deletion: - To remove the recent item shortcuts manually from the AutomaticDestinations and CustomDestinations folders, you can delete them directly from these locations. - Open File Explorer and navigate to the directories: C:\Users\YourUsername\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Recent\AutomaticDestinations and C:\Users\YourUsername\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Recent\CustomDestinations. - Identify the recent item shortcuts you want to remove and delete them. 2. Use Command Prompt: - You can also use Command Prompt (cmd) to delete these files. Here's how: - Press Win + R, then type cmd and press Enter to open Command Prompt. - In the Command Prompt window, navigate to the directories mentioned above using the cd command (e.g., cd C:\Users\YourUsername\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Recent\AutomaticDestinations). - Once you're in the desired directory, you can list the files using dir and delete them manually using the del command. By manually deleting the recent items from these directories, you can ensure that those shortcuts are removed. Windows might still add new items over time based on your usage patterns, but you can periodically clear out these directories to maintain control over which recent items are stored.