Windows 7 Allows Users to View Recent File List Without Opening InDesign
First things first…if you’re not using Windows 7 you can just ignore this post. But if you’re looking for little reasons to upgrade from XP or Vista, then continue on.
Okay, now that everyone else has left the room, I wanted to bring a nice little Windows 7 feature to your attention. The new task bar in Window 7 allows you to pin an application to it. While that’s nothing new(earlier versions of Windows had a quick launch area) , what is new that these aren’t just dumb icons. Microsoft added a very nice feature here–right click on the icon and you’ll see all of your recent files.
InDesign CS4 pinned to Windows 7 task bar
While some people may not think this is a big deal, but I’ve seen some very weird behavior with InDesign’s welcome screen list and open recent command. There’s also been quite a few complaints about it in various user forums. There’s one discussion going on right now in Adobe’s User to User Forum.
Some of the flaky behavior that I’ve seen reported or experienced:
- InDesign includes the sample button library
- The first item on the list in the welcome screen doesn’t always work
- Any time a plugin is installed the list is cleared
- There have been some reports of the list being unavailable when using the TweakUI Windows add in.
All of that is eliminated because in this case, it’s the operating system keeping track. As an added bonus, you don’t even need to launch InDesign to see the list.
That’s pretty neat for Windows 7 users. It’s a logical way for an icon to work and it’s little touches like this that I love.
Although on XP and Vista you can just go to the Recent Documents which show a list of your recent documents, all documents not just InDesigns.
Although you can go to the folder where all the shortcuts are stored – Documents and Settings\USERNAME\Recent
And sort by date.
Although it’s not as pretty as the way Windows 7 does it
Good spot Bob, that’s a nice little tip. I’ll buy Windows 7 when it’s not ridiculously overpriced. Or when I buy a new computer that comes with the latest OS on it though, just my personal reasons.
Very easy to do in Mac OS X (10.4) since April 2005 with Smart Folders (this is a live updated search result)…
These folders are actually dynamically updated by the Spotlight engine to contain content that match certain criteria. For example, this could be used to give you a folder containing all the Word documents containing the word “x” that have been edited within the last x days/hours/…
Branislav,
I think you may have missed the point. In Windows 7 you don’t even have to open a folder, just right-click the app icon and it brings up a list of recently opened documents. It is very convenient.
Yes but my Smart Folders (highly customisable) are accessible from the sidebar of any window I open in the System and even via the Dock. It is much more powerful.
Windows 7 has libraries. Also highly customizable and very powerful. But they don’t set themselves up and neither do smart folders.
This is just a nice little feature for ID users on Windows 7 to use to circumvent a shortcoming in InDesign. Nothing more and nothing less.
It also has the advantage that if you have to delete your ID preferences, the recent files list is still there. I’ve been loving Win7 since the RC.
Incidentally, most folks on 7 have probably found out that the CS4 app chrome doesn’t respond to the “Drag to one edge” quick window tricks in 7, but the keyboard shortcut equivalents (Hi, David!) work fine:
Win+Left/Right Arrow to snap the window to the edge of the screen at exactly half the screen width (add Shift to throw it onto your other monitor), Win+Up Arrow to go full screen, Win+Down Arrow to Restore or Minimize. And the one beloved of presenters everywhere: Win+P opens your presenter/dual screen choices.
The full list is at http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/Windows7/Keyboard-shortcuts
Sorry for the interjection, but the Remember feature in “Blatner Tools” can also automatically maintain your “Recent Files” list when your preferences get deleted. But these OS-level recent docs lists can be very helpful, too, of course. Thanks for pointing that out, Bob.
I’ve been on the Win7 RC x64 since April, it’s excellent — and yes, this Jump List is a slick, useful UI feature.
But no one has mentioned that in addition to the auto-created Recent list, one can also manually choose to Pin a file, and those files then go above all the Recent files — and they stay listed until removed. The Recent files list “rotates” — the older ones gets deleted — so the Pin feature lets you keep a permanent list of your frequent flier files.
Finally, you can also edit the number of files which appear in the Jump List by right-clicking the Taskbar, then choosing Start Menu | Customize. I think the Win7 default was 10, but I’ve upped mine to 20.
I’ve been working on my laptop in Mexico for a week and finding this feature wonderful. BUT when I return home and tried it, it didn’t happen because, I think, I’m running that tweakie toy thing. Does anyone know how I can get rid of the program so I get the functionality described above.
it’z very usefull information. but i expect more details..
Mical
Hi,
it’z amazing blog . I just added you to my News Reader. Keep up.
Really nice,, win7 stored my recent files for a while,, then stopped for unknown reason !! though still stores other applications recent files,, can you help ?