The Apple menu’s ‘Recent Items’ sub-menu lets you quickly access applications, documents, and servers you have recently used. This is a handy feature that saves a few steps in locating and then launching applications or documents.

Add a Recent Application Stack to Your Dock

In previous versions of Mac OS X, the ‘Recent Items’ list didn’t actually help you locate files or applications, it just let you access them quickly, without revealing where they were physically located in your Mac’s file system.

In Snow Leopard (OS X 10.6) and later, the ‘Recent Items’ sub-menu has a new trick up its sleeve. If you know the secret, the ‘Recent Items’ sub-menu will show you where items are actually located.

Find Out Where Recent Items Are Located

1. Place your mouse cursor over the ‘Recent Items’ entry in the Apple menu.
2. Hold down the command key on your Mac’s keyboard.
3. The entries for each file and application listed in the ‘Recent Items’ sub-menu will change to say ‘Show xxxx in the Finder,’ where xxxx is the name of a file or application you accessed recently.

If you select one of the files or applications in the ‘Recent Items’ sub-menu with the command key held down, the item will display in a Finder window and reveal its location in your Mac’s file system.

Published: 10/10/2009

Updated: 3/23/2015