How to Change the Number of Recent Documents in Excel 2011

Microsoft Excel has a section in one of its menus where you can see a list of the documents that you have recently edited in the application.

This provides a convenient way for you to reopen documents so that you can continue your work.

But if there are too few or too many documents shown in that location, then you can follow our tutorial below and learn how to change the number of recent documents in Microsoft Excel.

How to Adjust the Number of Recent Documents Shown in Microsoft Excel for Mac

  1. Open Excel.
  2. Click Excel at the top of the screen.
  3. Choose Preferences.
  4. Select General.
  5. Change the value in the Show this number of recent documents field.

Our guide continues below with additional information on how to change the number of recent documents in Excel, including pictures of these steps.

Excel 2011 for Mac provides several ways for you to create or open documents on your computer. One of the options available is to open recent documents that have been created or edited with the program.

This is helpful if you want to save a few seconds looking for a file, but you may be uncomfortable with such simple access to your files by anyone else that is using your computer.

Fortunately, Excel 2011 allows you to adjust the number of recent documents that the program shows. You can choose any option between 1 and 99, or you can elect to turn the setting off entirely.

How to Show More or Fewer Recent Documents in Excel 2011 (Guide with Pictures)

The steps in this article will show you how to adjust the number of recent documents that Microsoft Excel 2011 for Mac shows when you click File > Open Recent. You can select any number between 1 or 99, or you can elect not to show any at all.

Step 1: Open Microsoft Excel 2011 for Mac.

Step 2: Locate the Excel option at the top of the screen.

find the excel option

Step 3: Click Excel, then click Preferences.

open excel preferences

Step 4: Click the General button.

click the general button

Step 5: Click inside the field to the right of Show this number of recent documents and enter the preferred amount.

Again, this can be any number between 1 and 99. If you would prefer not to show any recent documents, then click the box to the left of the option to remove the check mark. Once you are done, click the OK button at the bottom of the window.

change the number of recent documents

Now that you know how to change the number of recent documents in Excel for Mac, you will be able to customize this setting until you find the number that works best for you.

This setting is for the entire Excel 2011 program, so it will remain at this number whenever you open another Excel file in the program.

Do you often switch between Mac and PC computers, and get frustrated because of the different scrolling behaviors on the mouse? Change the scrolling behavior on your Mac to make it more similar to what you are used to on your Windows PC.