Recent Filter For Linux

There's something so satisfying when you find a solution to a given problem. Better yet, it's all the more satisfying if the solution requires little to no effort on one's behalf.

That's exactly the word I would use to describe how using Recent Filter feels like - satisfying.

Recent Filter is a simple, free, and open-source Linux application that allows you to exclude files and folders from the Recently Used section of your Linux distribution (i.e. Recent section on Ubuntu).

The best part is it's remarkably easy to use. Simply add the folder you want to ignore in the Ignore Pattern section of the app, and activate the service (via the provided slide-button at the top of the GUI), and you're set.

You can also add specific patterns such as "*.txt" or "*.pdf" if you want to ignore texts and PDFs. Oh, and I also appreciate the fact that the GUI is GTK, making it really neat to use on GNOME desktops.

The first thing you should know is that the ignored paths are specified using wildcards, very similar to what you would use in a gitignore file.

If you're not familiar with gitignore, it's a text file/format that tells Git which files and folders to ignore within a project. I say similar because gitignore files can be both local and global. In Recent Filter's case, these wildcards only work with local files (meaning you can hide recently used files from external sources).

Even though Recent Filter is not what I might call groundbreaking, I really appreciate the app's simplicity. Apart from the fact that it provides an efficient solution for hiding file types and/or entire folders from the Recently used section of your OS, it's also simple to use, very lightweight, and quite modern looking.