9

How do I clear the list of recently opened documents with gedit?

5
  • i tried a lot, could not success..i have downloaded the source code for gedit. there is one clue, but installing it is very hard.
    – PRATAP
    Nov 3, 2018 at 9:39
  • github.com/GNOME/gedit/tree/master/gedit open it and check for the file gedit-recent.c if you open this file, there is one option called privacy it is set to FALSE, i tried to make it to TRUE and install it, but installing it manually is very hard.
    – PRATAP
    Nov 3, 2018 at 9:40
  • askubuntu.com/q/407014/739431 if installing is easy, we can make changes into source code and try. but installing is very hard.
    – PRATAP
    Nov 3, 2018 at 9:40
  • @PRATAP You spent some time on this question and thought you might like to see I posted an answer below. Mar 25, 2019 at 11:03
  • @WinEunuuchs2Unix sure, will have a look in sometime and revert back to you..
    – PRATAP
    Mar 25, 2019 at 11:06

3 Answers 3

4

Permanent method to always set number of entries

I'm revising my answer with a variation of this GUI answer for command line users.

Use this command to get current number of entries:

$ gsettings get org.gnome.gedit.preferences.ui max-recents

uint32 5

I want to change to 10 so I'll use this command:

$ gsettings set org.gnome.gedit.preferences.ui max-recents 10

$ gsettings get org.gnome.gedit.preferences.ui max-recents

uint32 10

If you permanently want to have zero saved recent files change 10 to 0. Notice how the get command is repeated after the set command to ensure it "sticks".

Manual method to remove entries

The gedit most recent files list are stored in USER_DIR/.local/share/recently-used.xbel.

Root User

$ sudo cat /root/.local/share/recently-used.xbel
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<xbel version="1.0"
      xmlns:bookmark="http://www.freedesktop.org/standards/desktop-bookmarks"
      xmlns:mime="http://www.freedesktop.org/standards/shared-mime-info"
>
  <bookmark href="file:///etc/default/grub" added="2018-08-03T19:25:50Z" modified="2018-12-27T17:03:38Z" visited="2018-08-03T19:25:51Z">
    <info>
      <metadata owner="http://freedesktop.org">
        <mime:mime-type type="text/plain"/>
        <bookmark:groups>
          <bookmark:group>gedit</bookmark:group>
        </bookmark:groups>
        <bookmark:applications>
          <bookmark:application name="gedit" exec="&apos;gedit %u&apos;" modified="2018-12-27T17:03:38Z" count="41"/>
        </bookmark:applications>
      </metadata>
    </info>
  </bookmark>

Normal User

$ cat ~/.local/share/recently-used.xbel
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<xbel version="1.0"
      xmlns:bookmark="http://www.freedesktop.org/standards/desktop-bookmarks"
      xmlns:mime="http://www.freedesktop.org/standards/shared-mime-info"
>
  <bookmark href="file:///home/rick/.conkyrc" added="2019-03-15T10:57:55Z" modified="2019-03-23T19:04:43Z" visited="2019-03-15T10:57:55Z">
    <info>
      <metadata owner="http://freedesktop.org">
        <mime:mime-type type="text/plain"/>
        <bookmark:groups>
          <bookmark:group>gedit</bookmark:group>
        </bookmark:groups>
        <bookmark:applications>
          <bookmark:application name="gedit" exec="&apos;gedit %u&apos;" modified="2019-03-23T19:04:43Z" count="50"/>
        </bookmark:applications>
      </metadata>
    </info>
  </bookmark>

When removing a gedit entry delete all lines from <bookmark href...> to </bookmark> inclusive.

NOTE: Other applications store entries in this file, not just gedit.

3
  • excellent.. can you please furthermore add the details on how to empty the said lines by running another script so that OP will run that script to clear his gedit history. I have just tried.. the part <bookmark href...> to </bookmark> but it is not in a single place if multile files are opened other than gedit..
    – PRATAP
    Mar 25, 2019 at 12:46
  • @Mogli Although a sed expert would have a nifty answer, I would simply edit the file and manually delete the lines. Apologies for my sloowwwww comment reply! Jul 1, 2019 at 18:06
  • In vim to remove <bookmark href...> to </bookmark> can be used dat command (delete whole tag). Put cursor for example to bookmark word and in normal mode enter: dat. 3 hours ago
3

Edited:

In Terminal, type "dconf-editor" to start Configuration Editor. If it is not installed install by

sudo apt install dconf-editor

To delete search history: Navigate to

org > gnome > gedit > preferences > ui

change max-recent from 5 to 0.

3
  • Hi, I just tried but couldn't locate the gnome-settings in apps. Photo:imgur.com/X7TbFo7 Nov 1, 2018 at 9:29
  • Hi, edited the answer and tested it. Please try this one. Hope this helps Nov 1, 2018 at 13:08
  • Upvoting answer because I used it to increase most recent file list to 10 with: gsettings set org.gnome.gedit.preferences.ui max-recents 10. I found 5 far too few for my needs. I also gave credit to you in my own answer for using gsettings. Hope that is ok. Jul 1, 2019 at 18:15
0

for Ubuntu 20.04:

Run the following command in terminal:

$ dconf-editor

Navigate to /org/gnome/gedit/state/history-entry/search-for-entry and change Custom value to ['']

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