How do I remove recently used files from the application in the dock? (edited to include title)

David A. Macdonald

When I click on Q icon in my dock, a list of four folders and one Q icon appear. All but one folder are irrelevant. How can I get rid of the other three folders and the icon? Can I change the valid folder, clicking on which opens what I want to see, to an icon?

David A. Macdonald

Thank you for that very fast reply. The Q icon lives in the main dock with the icons of other applications, not over on the right. Whether Quicken is closed or open, right-clicking and going to Options > Show in Finder simply takes me to the Q application itself.

When I click on the Q application in the dock in order to open Quicken, a panel rises up that shows in sequence, top to bottom:
FOLDER named David's Finances 3.2.17.38 PM.quicken, which is empty and dead and I'd like to get rid of.
RED Q ICON named David's Finances 3.quicken which also is dead and I'd like to get rid of.
FOLDER named David's Finances 3.quicken, which also is empty and dead and I'd like to get rid of.
FOLDER named 2019.charity quicken. The name of the folder is the name of a report listing 2019 charitable donations, but clicking on the folder does not go to the report; it is the only thing that opens my Quicken accounts.
Those four items are followed by Options, Show Recents, and Open.

My problem is (a) to get rid of the first three items and (b) to assign to the fourth item an appropriate name, such as "David's Finances" and not the name of a report.

I realize that I am imposing on your time. But you may find yourself intrigued by there being such a mess. My computer is now Mac OS 10.15.3, but the Quicken mess arose when it was back in 10.14 I think. It is only now that I have decided to try to straighten it out. David

David A. Macdonald

Things are odder than that:

The "drop-up" panel opens both when I click normally and when I right-click. It has changed, though. When we last corresponded it contained "Show Recents", but since then that has been replaced by "Show All Windows". See the first exhibit below..

When all this started, the name of my Quicken file was "David's Finances 3". "2019 Charity" was merely the name of a report. Now the former has converted itself into "David's Finances 3.quicken" and has become a dead icon, while "2019 Charity" has converted itself into a folder named "2019 Charity.quicken" and is the thing I must click on to get to my Quicken file.

When I click on "Show All Windows" (formerly "Show Recents"), the three folders and Quicken icon of the "drop-up" panel appear on the desktop as shown on the second attachment. They are linked, and they all disappear when I open any application To make the second attachment I opened Utilities > Screenshot, whereupon the three folders and Quicken icon disappeared. Then I set Screenshot for a 5- or 10-second delay, giving time in which to re-open the three folders and Quicken icon so that they could be photographed at the end of the delay.

None of this makes any sense to me.

David

David A. Macdonald

I think, Ricko, that we are just about at the end.

Left-clicking and right-clicking open identical popup menus on all of my applications. Restarting made no difference. My computer is only 5 months old, and it seems unlikely that there is a sticky key. The keys are clean, and I've seen no other evidence that one might be sticking.

Thank you for explaining the differing appearances of Show Recents and Show All Windows. I'd never before had occasion to use either and so had not recognized the point.

Yes, I did clear the Recents menu from with Quicken. Now when I click on the Quicken icon in the dock, no folders or icons appear in the popup menu, which is a great advance. The menu shows only Options, Show Recents, Open.

Thank you for telling me the more direct way of getting a screen shot. I used to know of it but had forgotten through lack of use. Searching "screen shot" and "screenshot" in Quicken Help only brought up "No Results Found". Surely the Help function ought to tell one how to make a screen shot.

Here is the only remaining problem:
Double-clicking on the Quicken icon in the dock, Quicken being closed, now opens a "Let's get started" page, not my Quicken file. See the first attachment. Clicking the "Open Quicken File" on that page does not open the file but sends me searching for the file with no idea where it is stored. See the second attachment. Surely double-clicking on the icon in the dock ought to lead me directly to the file??!!

David

David A. Macdonald

RickO: It's fixed, but not quite in the way you suggested. When I went Go > Library there was no David's Finances.quicken nor any other .quicken to be opened. But there was a Quicken backup file. I copied the icon for yesterday's backup to the desktop and opened it to be sure that it still took me to yesterday's backup. It did. Then in Go > Library > Quicken I opened a new subfile ("Quicken file") and moved the icon from the desktop there. It still worked. Finally, I changed the name of the icon from "2019 Charity.quicken" to "My file.quicken". Now when I click on the icon in my dock, the file that opens has My file at the top.The popup menu is not cluttered with the names of irrelevant files. All is well.

Thank you, RickO, for your very great help and your very great patience.

David

jacobs

@David A. Macdonald I've been puzzling over your posts, but @RickO has been ahead of me in replying. I was puzzled, like Rick, by your screenshots, but I think the smoking gun is this sentence you wrote: "Left-clicking and right-clicking open identical popup menus on all of my applications." That's not the way a Mac is typically configured. There must be something in your system preferences that is misconfigured. Are you using a mouse or trackpad? That might make difference in what setting is messed up. But I agree with Rick that this is a Mac issue, and you might want to turn to Apple if you can't figure out why you're getting a Right/Control click action when you click on a Dock icon.

David A. Macdonald

My Quicken is now in good order and acting just as I would want it to, as you may have seen from my last reply to RickO.

I use a wirelessly connected mouse.

Thank you for your reply. So far as I know, the fact that both left- and right-clicking lead to a popup menu does not lead to any consequences elsewhere. I am inclined to ignore it and shall either turn to Apple or to my trusty computer store if there seems to be reason to do that.

When I told RickO that searching for screen or screen shot or screenshot in Help, he thought that I was speaking of Quicken's Help. No, I was speaking of Apple's Help. It is surprising - no, astonishing - that Apple's Help has no help on that point.

David

jacobs

@David A. Macdonald Yes, I saw your post that you were satisfied that you had things under control. I just wanted to make sure you were aware that what you described is not normal macOS behavior. What you show is what happens if you click and hold the mouse on an item in the Dock; if you just click, it shouldn't show the pop-up menu and should just launch the application.

But if you're not having any other issues, and your extra Quicken folders have been dealt with, then no problem; happy sailing!

David A. Macdonald

RickO

You are correct. It is a long click that does it. It is good to know that - in that respect at least - my computer is neither diseased nor neurotic.

David