-as of [20 OCTOBER 2025]-
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Unlike the Photos app, which limits “Recently Viewed” photos to the last 20, the Files app does not have a hard cutoff for the number of files that appear in “Recent”.
Instead, it’s a dynamic search result that displays files based on when they were last accessed
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Here is a breakdown of how the Files app handles “Recents”:
A “Smart Search” folder:
The “Recent” view is not a real folder but an intelligently generated view of your files from all linked locations, such as iCloud Drive, “On My iPhone/iPad,” and other cloud services
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Limited only by usage:
The list is limited by how many different files you have interacted with lately.
As you open or modify more files, older ones are pushed down the list and eventually out of the view.
There is no hard-coded number like 100 or a time limit like 30 days
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No user control:
You cannot set a specific limit on the number of files that appear in “Recent.”
Your only option is to remove the “Recents” category from the sidebar or manually delete files, though this will permanently remove them from their original storage location
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Mac behavior is similar:
This behavior is consistent with the macOS Finder, where the “Recents” folder is also a search result that can display hundreds of files based on your usage history
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*👨🔬🕵️♀️🙇♀️*SKETCHES*🙇♂️👩🔬🕵️♂️*
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👈👈👈☜*-SEARCH BOX-* ☞ 👉👉👉
-FILES iOS APP-
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💕💝💖💓🖤💙🖤💙🖤💙🖤❤️💚💛🧡❣️💞💔💘❣️🧡💛💚❤️🖤💜🖤💙🖤💙🖤💗💖💝💘
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*🌈✨ *TABLE OF CONTENTS* ✨🌷*
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🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥*we won the war* 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥