Shame on Microsoft MSFT. I just gave them the OK to update my Office 365. Something I have done more times than I can remember over many years because I trust them. This time the most recent update, something terrible happened. It deleted my entire “Recent” files list. Now I can no longer find my files quickly and easily. This is a disaster!

And this is not the first time. The same thing happened several weeks ago. So, after carefully rebuilding my “Recent” list once again, they deleted it once again. What the heck is going on over at Microsoft these days? Very sloppy.

Apparently, this has happened to many Microsoft users over many years. Countless users are experiencing this problem and countless more have done so in the past with updates. Together, we’ve have already wasted countless hours just trying to find various old and new files we have been working on.

Before the Recent list, we always had to find the file before we could open it. That means we always remembered where they were because we opened the file all the time. The Recent category made life easy, but it also made us lazy. We use it to gain quick access to our files, but without it, we are lost.

Shame on Microsoft for Hurting Their Customers

This is the other side of the coin I have always talked about. They put the power of everything we need in the palm of our hands. But that also weakens us whether it be computers, smartphones or tablets.

What do I mean? Let me give you an example. How do you reach your husband, wife, kids? You give them a call or send them a text, right?

Next question. What is their phone number? AHA! Gotcha. We no longer have to remember phone numbers when we see their names on our Favorites list. That’s the whole point I am making.

In a perfect world, this is great. It saves us time. But this is not a perfect world. And by deleting the Recent list, we no longer have the recent memory of where every file we use is stored. We could search, but many times we don’t even remember the file name to enter.

And deleting it more than once is just an insult to the user. Doesn’t Microsoft care about their reputation and brand? They are creating their own problems and they don’t seem to even notice.

One Solution to the Office 365 Deleted “Recent” List

In the last few days, I have heard from countless Office 365 users complaining about this. The good news is I have discovered a solution for at least some users.

One way I found to solve this problem on the MacBook is to use another Recent list. That’s right. If you are lucky, you have more than one.

On your MacBook, go to the icons at the bottom and click, Finder. They look under “Recents”. This gives you another list of your recent files so you can find them an open them quickly and easily.

The one that vanished, was the Microsoft Recent list. This other list is the MacBook Recent list.

I don’t know if Microsoft Windows gives you another “Recent” list. I hope so. If not, you may be out of luck.

So, using Microsoft is all of a sudden a crap-shoot. And just like playing games at Las Vegas, the house always wins. I don’t know if there is a real solution to protect ourselves from this kind of sloppiness from companies like Microsoft. There should be. Any ideas?

Jeff Kagan is an Equities.com columnist. Kagan is a Wireless Analyst, Telecom Analyst, Industry Analyst, speaker and consultant. He follows wireless, wire line, telecom, Internet, cable TV, IPTV, Cloud, Mobile Pay, FinTech and communications technology. Email him at [email protected]. His web site is www.jeffKAGAN.com. Follow him on Twitter @jeffkagan.