Add More Recent Items on Windows 10 Jump List

Update:- The article was updated on 22 November 2019. The method found to be working in Windows 10 1909 update (November 2019 Update). Although Microsoft no longer displays the Recent items in the Jump List istead they display Pinned and Frequent accessed folder in the explorer.

The Jump List is a greatly underestimated feature of Windows. There are many people who don’t even know that it exists.

It allows us to easily access recently opened files without having to look for their exact file path every single time.

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Back to Windows 8 and Windows 7, we had the option of easily changing the display number of these recent items.

However, that doesn’t seem to be the case with Windows 10. It’s still possible to get a higher display number. Just not as easy. Let’s learn how!

Jump List: How to Change The Display Number of Recently Opened Files

Back in Windows 8/7, you could change that setting easily through the taskbar properties. That’s no longer the case with Windows 10.

For a reason that nobody seems to understand, Windows 10 will not give you the option of tweaking with the jump list.

The only working method of increasing the number of recent items to display in Windows 10 jump list, is through the registry.

Now, everyone seems to worry when the registry is mentioned; and rightfully so. If you mess something up, you might render your computer unusable and I won’t take any responsibility for it.

Press Win+R button, you will see the Run box, now type regedit in the box and press enter/OK.

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In the next UAC pop-up click on Yes.

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You will see the windows registry editor. Now copy the following key and paste it on the address bar of Registry Editor.

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced

Then press Enter button. It will directly take you to the desired folder. If you are facing problem in copy and paste then you can manually browse till the Advanced folder.

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Then look at the right part of your screen for something called JumpListItems_Maximum. If you find it then Right click on it and click on Modify. Then select the Decimal option then change its value to the display number of your preference. Example 18.

Note– If you can’t find the JumpListItems_Maximum entry in that folder, then you need to create it. To do that follow the below steps.

If you can’t find it, you can also create it on your own. Which was the case for me as well. Right click on the empty part and select New -> Dword (32-bit) Value.

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Now name it JumpListItems_Maximum. It is better to copy the name from here and paste while creating the entry. Wrong spelling or wrong letter case will not work.

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Then Right Click on it and click Modify.

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Then select the Decimal option then change its value to the display number of your preference. Example 18. Then click on OK.

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Does it Work?

I followed these steps for myself to make sure that this method is actually working. You can check the results in the screenshots below.

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You can see here that before the modifications, I only had 13 total Pinned and Frequent accessed folder on the jump list.

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After the modifications, you can see how I’ve got total 18 folders on the jump list now.

So, yeah. This method works. If you follow this guide step by step, then you should be able to get more files displayed on your jump list safely and easily.

Side Notes

This didn’t work for me on my non-administrator account. Even when I opened regedit with administrator permissions, nothing would happen.

So, I guess that you need an administrator account to make this work. Your results can vary as Windows 10 accounts seem to have a few bugs even to this day.

After switching to my main administrator account, this immediately worked. I didn’t even had to reboot or anything.

Other than that, do keep in mind that the Windows registry is not a toy. It’s very easy to break your system with it.

So, don’t try to get too creative with it unless you’re prepared to render your computer unusable. It’s generally recommended to have backups when tweaking with the registry or anything related to it.

Why is There no Option to Change This Setting Through the UI?

I honestly have no idea. We already know that it’s possible to do it. And it doesn’t seem to possess a security risk or anything like that.

So, why would Microsoft decide to remove this from the UI of Windows 10? Your guess is as good as mine.

20 thoughts on “Add More Recent Items on Windows 10 Jump List”

  1. You DO Realize that this article have nothing to do with Windows 10, right?
    There are no such options in the taskbar properties and that registry key is for windows 7 and 8/8.1 only!!!

    Reply
    • If this article is not to do with Windows 10 (and I you seem to be perfectly correct) then surely this article is deceptive and a waste of our time and should be deleted. What is the author Nancy Wilson trying to do here, other than diminish her reputation?

      Reply
    • Completely agree with you. Neither the registry method (key didn’t exist) nor the control panel (start tab is missing) methods worked. My guess is the author was using Windows 8 and just assumed that the steps carried over to Windows 10 without actually confirming if they did. Rookie mistake.

      Reply
  2. This worked great on my Windows 10, thanks very much for the clear instructions using the regedit method.

    However, there is a viewing problem, I’m using Chrome with normal settings. In the area of the real nitty-gritty, the instructions are hidden by the cell on the right-hand side, so people can not see what the exact location is. BIG problem!

    Here is the area:

    Press Windows + R keys, type in regedit and press Enter.
    Navigate to:
    HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersi IT IS HERE THAT IS BLOCKED FROM A VIEWERS SIGHT.

    The correct location, (the last part as the full length gets cut off in these comments), is:

    …..WindowsCurrentVersionExplorerAdvanced

    Hope this helps the next person coming along. Great site, thanks for your help.

    Reply
  3. The responsible value in windows 10 is HKCU\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced\JumpListItems_Maximum

    Reply
  4. I’ve just tried this and it works. However, the value “JumpListItems_Maximum” doesn’t exist. If you add it yourself (DWORD-32bit), then edit it and set it to say 25, it works immediately.

    Reply
    • Thanks Stern, adding the dword 32 bit value you suggested works perfectly on my Windows 10, and as you noted, no need to reboot/logout, it works instantly!

      Reply
  5. This does not work for Windows 10. Please check the accuracy of your advice. It is a waste of time for you and those who need help!

    Reply
  6. That option is entirely missing from my Registry… where might this be? Should I create this registry key myself?

    Reply
  7. Whoever said this isn’t for windows 10 clearly didn’t read the article in full.
    It IS a registry key in Windows 10.
    It IS possible to ADD the key if you do not have it already
    It IS possible to add OR modify this and have it work just fine
    YOU do need to be an Administrator for it to work
    IF you do not have the key already, then ADD it, just like the article says.

    The only thing wrong with this article is that it doesnt make it clear that when adding a DWORD to the key, set it as DECIMAL not HEX…. so 20-30 DECIMAL will extend the list to 20-30 items. Unless you know what the HEX equivalent is, of course, then use HEX.

    READ before you post WEEEEEEEEEEEEBS.

    Reply
  8. Have done this on multiple computers running Win10 and it worked fine. But just tried it November 21 2019 on a new laptop with Win10 1903 and it doesn’t seem to work. Wonder if a Windows update broke this?

    Reply
  9. I think something about the 1909 update, or an Office 365 update that I don’t know how to identify, broke the jump list function, but only for Office apps. When I right click on and office app now, and select a recently used file, Windows cannot find the file. However, the jump list for non-Office apps work fine. I’ve done everything I can to reset or rebuild the list and can’t make them work. Very frustrating, I use the hell out of the lists daily.

    If I launch Excel or Word or whatever, and select a recently use file from within the app, it works fine. But right-clicking on Word or Excel and selecting a recently used file there… no dice. It worked until the weekend before last. Super annoying.

    Reply
  10. As above, it works for the documents folders but not for the office 365 apps, which is the main place you need this function. Hugely frustrating.

    Reply
  11. Thanks very much! This worked perfect for my Windows 10 and Explorer, Word and Excel 2013 even without admin rights. Only the line spacing is more than in earlier Windows versions.

    Reply

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