Open recent clear files
Chromebook/linux i5. 8gig
Just upgraded to MU4.4. Is there really no way to clear 'open recent' files? There was an option previously for clearing all the files. I do not see that with 4.4.... files/open recent. I would like to clear a lot of scores I will not be needing to open easily.
Comments
It's still there. What OS do you have?
In reply to It's still there. What OS do… by dj frank rose
Answered that in my post. Chromebook/linux. If it is still there....where is it? It used to be in the 'open recent' list, but mine is just filled with the list of the scores!
In reply to Answered that in my post… by R. L. F.
Sounds like you may have the problem I had for a while. If you cannot use File / Open recent / Clear recent files or if you want to modify the list rather than empty it completely ... and if you feel confident of your computer skills, you can try modifying the .JSON file that I describe in Delete old songs from library at timestamp Mar 11, 2024 - 16:23.
In that thread I described how I found that there were two files that had "recent files" lists and, once I deleted both of them, MuseScore re-built it/them correctly.
In reply to Sounds like you may have the… by TheHutch
NO!! Not 'that' sure to do what I was reading. Obviously this is an issue with MU4.x versions. I thought I had 'clear recent' in 4.2, but it has been several months since I last cleared files from the list. This is a mess. Another little issue that may 'be' difficult to find or correct or worse interest to do so. Your earlier post were back early in the year and there have been a few updates since and nothing was done. Only seems worse.
Thanks for the thoughts.
In reply to NO!! Not 'that' sure to do… by R. L. F.
Nope! It's not an issue with v.4. I had it on v.3. Once I fixed it, it stayed fixed.
In reply to Sounds like you may have the… by TheHutch
Sorry for following this older post, but just got into 4.4 this week and clear recent files Still did not show up. And as I said before not willing to go poking around. I am sure I know what might be the result. Thanks again for the thought back then. Am disappointed that 4.4 was still working the same.
In reply to Sorry for following this… by R. L. F.
If you are looking at Scores>New and recent? No there is now way to clear scores from there. If you look at File>Open recent, There is a Clear button at the bottom of the list. But after so many scores are in the list, the clear button doesn't work. Then the only way to clear recent files is to do a Help>Factory reset. This will also delete any custom settings you have.
In reply to If you are looking at Scores… by bobjp
No, Bob, that's not the only way. You can delete the json files I described in my post I linked to above. When you start MuseScore after deleting them, it rebuilds that file and the Clear button returns normally (and has stayed for me since, even through updating from 3.6.2 to 4.2 and then to 4.4.4). It does this without the additional changes that a Factory Reset does.
In reply to No, Bob, that's not the only… by TheHutch
Yes but many people don't want to or can't go that route.
Might not work for me anyway. I don't just update MuseScore. I uninstall and delete all the folders I can find. Not always. But sometimes.
In reply to Yes but many people don't… by bobjp
Sorry, do not understand your first sentence.
So, you delete all your work in say 4.2, then delete 4.2....then install 4.3? Seems like it would be much easier (and safer for me) to have clear recent files option back. I was hoping in 4.4!
In reply to Sorry, do not understand… by R. L. F.
I don't delete scores. And I don't delete everything every time. It's just nice to start with a clean slate now and then. I'm done for a little while because I had to reinstall Windows three times last month. Besides< I seldom use the recent files list.
In reply to I don't delete scores. And I… by bobjp
Sorry, as usual I am confused. You previous said you uninstall(I assume MS) then delete all the files you can find. If not scores what files are you deleting? Do you move your scores to some separate titled file before the uninstall and then reload into new version of MS? As I said, 'very confused'. Glad this all works for you, but I think you may be understanding why I will not be trying the processes being offered to clear recent files list! :)
In reply to Sorry, as usual I am… by R. L. F.
R. L. F.
Sorry. I didn't mean to imply that you should do what I do. I was just giving a different perspective.
The "clear recent files" has always been in Edit>Open recent. The problem is that after a while, selecting the command doesn't work. The easiest way to clear the files is to do the Help>factory reset. I don't remember if that clears the things you see in the scores tab. I just don't pay much attention to those things.
But to sort of answer your question. When you install any program, certain files are placed in "hidden" folders, and other places that users don't normally need to worry about. The first instinct that people have when they have a problem is to reinstall the program. This doesn't always work because uninstall doesn't uninstall everything. Certain folders that shouldn't be a problem ( or can't be removed by the uninstaller) are left behind. The reinstall routine sees these folders as already being there and tends to bypass them. but what if the problem was in one of those left behind folders? The user opens the program an has the same problem as before. How many times have we seen a post where someone says they reinstalled the program several times, only to have the same problem.
In reply to R. L. F. Sorry. I didn't… by bobjp
Are you sure it is not files>clear recent? I will have to check that again.
As I remember Marc had suggested factory reset for another issue I had. As I recall it did not clear recent files list.
In reply to Sorry for following this… by R. L. F.
@R.L.F. Just apply the procedure given by TheHutch
In reply to @R.L.F. Just apply the… by frfancha
I have a small Python utility to remove files from recent_files.json list (only from the list, not the actual files)
https://github.com/diedeno/ms-recent-manager
You need Python. Best make a backup first. The backup option will make a copy of recent_files.json with a timestamp.
Changes are written when 'save' button is clicked
(you can of course just edit this file with any text editor and delete the relevant lines in the file)
Edit: not tested on macOS (but - in theory - should work)
In reply to I have a small Python… by graffesmusic
Thanks for the option. I do not trust myself to not screw something up. And I am not all that interested in getting python just to have for this. I would just wish 'clear recent files' option was still there at top of list not at bottom where it apparently gets pushed off with quantity of additions.
Thanks though for the option, just more involved than I wish to be!!
In reply to @R.L.F. Just apply the… by frfancha
The key is "confident in your computer skills" or just trusting enough to believe all will go as planned/hoped. I am neither!! If you are both I am sure it would go perfectly. I on the other hand have had toooo many 'accidents' working in musescore with something that was just normal....that suddenly, for what ever reason, was not. And weeks of work disappeared not to be relocated.
As I said in another post, I would just hope the 'clear recent files' option would come back at the top of the list and not be pushed off the bottom. Thanks for the thought
In reply to The key is "confident in… by R. L. F.
No problem. You are master of your systems. It is good to be suspicious concerning computer security.
In reply to The key is "confident in… by R. L. F.
"I would just hope the 'clear recent files' option would come back at the top of the list and not be pushed off the bottom"
+1
It is indeed super-irritating to have to scroll right to the foot of an enormous list to find the Clear option.
And even worse: in Mu 4.4.4 there seems to be a bug which actually hides the Clear option.
Truly an awful UX implementation?
In reply to "I would just hope the … by DanielR
I first had this happen in 3.6.2. It continued after I upgraded to 4.2 until I deleted the <recent_files.json> file and let MuseScore re-build it (as I described in the forum post above).
Oddly, I just had it happen again. I had not had occasion to look at that list until this topic came up. (I rarely use it.) My Recent files list was very long and Clear recent files had apparently disappeared off the end. I modified the <recent_files.json> file, simply deleting some of the entries, and it re-appeared.
I have the original JSON file ("original" from yesterday, so to speak), so I'm'a do some experimentation and find out just how long that list has to be to make Clear recent files disappear. Find out whether this behavior ... and the resolution ... is reproducible.
In reply to I first had this happen in 3… by TheHutch
Would be interested in knowing, if you find a definitive answer. Future reference. Of course I still hope someone puts 'clear recent' permanently at the top, so it does not contine to get pushed off the list.
In reply to "I would just hope the … by DanielR
Actually I have had the problem since I was in 4.2. So, nothing new as to a bug in 4.4.4. I had hope a fix would have occurred by 4.4. The list just keeps growing....and growing.