How to Delete Run History in Windows

This Technical Baaba Official teaches you how to clear the Windows Run app’s command history in Windows 11, 10, 8, & Win 7.

1 Open the Start menu. Click the Start button (Windows logo) at the bottom-left corner of your screen or press the ⊞ Win keyboard key.

2- Search for regedit in the search box. This will bring up the Registry Editor app in the results.

3 – Click “regedit”. It’s a collection of blue blocks icon.

4 – Click Yes when prompted. Doing so will provide administrator permission to open the Registry Editor.

5 – Navigate to the “RunMRU” folder. Each folder in the registry is arranged in alphabetical order. To navigate to “RunMRU”:

• Expand the HKEY_CURRENT_USER folder by clicking  to the left of it. This folder and each subsequent folder are in the left-hand sidebar.
• Expand the Software folder.
• Expand the Microsoft folder.
• Scroll down and expand the Windows folder.
• Expand the CurrentVersion folder.
• Expand the Explorer folder.

6 – Click the “RunMRU” folder. Its contents will appear in the right-hand pane of the Registry Editor window.

7 – Highlight everything in the “RunMRU” folder except “Default”. Simply click and drag your mouse up the left side of the main Registry Editor window to highlight these items.

• You should be able to see the Run history item names in the “Data” column.

8 – Right-click a highlighted entry, then click Delete. You’ll see Delete at the bottom of the drop-down menu; clicking it invokes a pop-up window.

• If you’re using a laptop with a trackpad, use two fingers to click instead of right-clicking.

9 – Click Yes. Doing so will clear your Run history.

• You will likely see an error window appear that says “Unable to clear all Registry items”; regardless of this message, your Run history will be clear the next time you check it.

Tips

• You can also use the Windows 10 Registry method on Windows 7 and 8, but you’ll need to navigate manually through the folder path (e.g., expand folders HKEY_CURRENT_USER through Explorer, then click RunMRU).

Do not edit any other Registry entries unless you are certain that you know what you are doing. You can potentially corrupt your operating system.