Delete the recent document history

OpenOffice.org doesn't come with a simple way to reset its recent documents history, but there are several methods available.

BleachBit

BleachBit is a file and privacy cleaner (by yours truly) for Linux. BleachBit is most convenient if you want to clear multiple applications (such as Firefox, Google Chrome, Apache OpenOffice, and LibreOffice) at once. Simply install BleachBit, check the box for OpenOffice.org - Recent Documents, and then click Delete. You should also delete the OpenOffice.org cache because it contains a cached copy of the recent documents history.

History Manager extension

Installing the History Manager extension is quick and easy on Linux, Mac, or Windows. Reload OpenOffice.org, and then click Tools - Add-Ons - History Manager. Then, use the simple dialog to resize or erase the list.

It's confusing that the list is not erased immediately, but it is cleared when you close OpenOffice.org. (Make sure to close the QuickStarter too.)

History Manager 2.1 was released when OpenOffice.org 2.4 was the most recent version, but History manager clears the history on OpenOffice.org 3.0.0.

Manual

To manually remove the recent documents history, first close OpenOffice.org. Then edit the Common.xcu file in your OpenOffice.org user profile directory. The OpenOffice.org user profile path differs, but for OpenOffice.org 3, it's most commonly either:

• Linux: ~/.openoffice.org/3/user/registry/data/org/openoffice/Office/Common.xcu
• Windows XP: C:\Documents and Settings\{username}\Application Data\OpenOffice.org\user\registry\data\org\openoffice\Office\Common.xcu
• Windows Vista: C:\Users\{username}\AppData\Roaming\OpenOffice.org\user\registry\data\org\openoffice\Office\Common.xcu

Edit Common.xcu and remove the XML node History. Alternatively, you can delete the whole file, but you will lose a bit of information such as whether you registered OpenOffice.org.

Finally, delete the corresponding cache file org.openoffice.Office.Common.dat in the /user/registry/cache/ directory, or you can re-run OpenOffice.org to regenerate the cache.

Related articles

• Customize or remove the splash screen