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When I right click on the Google Chrome icon in the Taskbar/Start menu, I am able to see files in the recent list which I don't think Google Chrome should be able to read. Also these files aren't recent,some of which have been deleted.

The files that I have hidden by editing the photo are sensitive files.

It is really suspicious. Is there a way to stop it? I am worried that it is able to read these files.

Things I tried:-

  1. I tried clearing the cache and temp files both from the browser and the windows explorer files where chrome is located.
    1. Uninstalling and reinstalling Chrome.
    2. Following the steps in the comments.

Update: If I click on one of the files, it gives the following message.

Valay_17
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  • Go to Settings, under Confidentiality > Personal history, and uncheck the "Record my personal history" on top (mine is in French, but that's the first box at top of window), then log off or reboot. While you're on that page, you might want to take a look at all the things Windows records or saves without your consent or knowledge, or both, and uncheck those you find unsavory... –  Apr 06 '20 at 08:07
  • @Didier Couldn’t find personal history could you please be a little precise, maybe while translating there might have been an issue. I checked for both chrome settings and windows settings. – Valay_17 Apr 06 '20 at 08:13
  • If you open Windows Settings by pressing the Windows-i key combination, then go to Privacy, then Timeline (that's how it's called in English, provided your PC is set to English as its main display language), you can disable Timeline by unchecking the "Let Windows collect my activities from this PC" box, and clearing all recorded activity/history further down below. –  Apr 06 '20 at 08:25
  • @Didier Ohk Timeline is what you are talking about. Unfortunately for me it is already set to off since the day I bought my device. – Valay_17 Apr 06 '20 at 08:31
  • Here's something you can try: In Chrome, press Ctrl-H to access your browsing history, select "Since the beginning of time" in the drop-down menu, clear whatever you want to clear (you can keep your cache content if that makes your browsing faster), then close Chrome, then in Windows Explorer, go to your user profile AppData (show hidden files first), Local\Google\Chrome\User\Data\Default, look for a file named History, right-click, Properties, and check the "Read-only" box, click on Apply, then OK, and start Chrome again. Your history should have been cleared, and won't show up again. –  Apr 06 '20 at 08:43
  • @Didier I have done that already, it is in my things I have tried list as well. – Valay_17 Apr 06 '20 at 08:47
  • You also set the History file to read-only? –  Apr 06 '20 at 08:47
  • @Didier Yup I had done that too. – Valay_17 Apr 06 '20 at 08:48
  • Then restart your PC and create a new user profile (standard), or start Chrome in incognito mode to check if the History file is indeed read-only. –  Apr 06 '20 at 08:51
  • @Didier Creating a new user and stuff seems too much, also this had happened to me once before and the problem was solved by simply reinstalling chrome. – Valay_17 Apr 06 '20 at 08:54
  • Then try to uninstall Chrome using Revo Uninstaller (free version here: https://www.revouninstaller.com/fr/revo-uninstaller-free-download/) and make sure you delete all the pre-checked files and folders (switch to Advanced user before you clear all those items, it gives you a more complete view), restart your PC, and install Chrome again. You might want to export your bookmarks before you do that. –  Apr 06 '20 at 08:57
  • @Didier Ok doing it hope this works – Valay_17 Apr 06 '20 at 08:58
  • @Didier No luck in this as well. – Valay_17 Apr 06 '20 at 09:05
  • Since you've just re-installed Chrome (and hopefully deleted all your profile), you have to apply the "Read-only" setting again on Chrome's History file. What bothers me is that those files seem unrelated to what Chrome usually opens, i.e. webpages, and the occasional office document, like PDFs. You should check what Chrome is set as default application for in Control Panel, under Programs > Default Programs. –  Apr 06 '20 at 09:34
  • @Didier Chrome is set as the default application for internet browsing only and those files are the ones which I had downloaded, also set the history to read only again but still no change. – Valay_17 Apr 06 '20 at 09:46
  • If downloaded with Chrome, then it's normal that they'd appear in Chrome browsing history. What's not normal is that after clearing said history and set the History file to read-only, those files would still appear. Try to remove Chrome from the Task Bar, restart your PC, and add it again. –  Apr 06 '20 at 09:48
  • @Didier Had restarted the pc before reinstalling and did the same still nothing. – Valay_17 Apr 06 '20 at 09:50
  • Windows 10 has a feature called Timeline. You may want to disable that as well if it is not already disabled. https://www.howtogeek.com/348122/what-is-windows-10s-timeline-and-how-do-i-use-it/, https://www.onmsft.com/how-to/how-to-disable-or-re-enable-windows-10s-timeline-feature – MC10 Apr 21 '20 at 04:24
  • @MC10 I had turned it off since the day I purchased my laptop. – Valay_17 Apr 21 '20 at 04:47
  • @Valay_17 Ah, good know. Not sure where else these could be coming from then – MC10 Apr 21 '20 at 04:57
  • @MC10 Seems to be the history, no matter where I clear it from, still keeps coming back. – Valay_17 Apr 21 '20 at 05:02
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    @Valay_17 The only thing left I can think of is to manually delete the jump lists: https://www.online-tech-tips.com/computer-tips/clear-recent-items-windows-jumplists/ This would mean all of them though, all applications, unless you can identify the file that pertains to Chrome (possibly by opening them in a text editor). Oh and I just saw Timeline was mentioned in previous comments, should've read them more carefully – MC10 Apr 21 '20 at 05:19
  • @MC10 Perfect let me try it out and I will let you know if it helps, although I wish to have the recents enabled, I’ll clear the previous ones and see where the new ones are being created from – Valay_17 Apr 21 '20 at 05:23
  • @MC10 Well, I found the location of the recent files and deleted them all, and now they don't appear. Yup it works. Still wonder how files that old came up all of a sudden. – Valay_17 Apr 22 '20 at 12:39

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