How can I control how the Frequent Items database works?
Setting up the Frequent Items database
The first time QAP is launched, it installs the SQLite files required to collect data about your Windows and QAP usage. These files are saved in the same folder where is installed the Quick Access Popup executable file.
A database named QAP_Frequent.DB is then created in the QAP settings folder. Periodically (by default every minute), QAP stores in this database the Recent Items collected from Windows since the last update. This very light background process is unnoticeable from a performance point of view.
QAP also logs in this database your QAP menu usage. It allows to track recent folders open in QAP that would not be added to the Windows Recent Items. With QAP v11 (or more recent), the database is also used to suggest items in the Add Multiple Favorite command.
For more curious and technical users wishing to browse this database, I recommend the use of the free app SQLite Browser (this tool is not required for normal users).
Configuring the Frequent Items database
You can set the parameters of the Frequent Items database in Options. Under the Database tab, you can enable or disable the database. If is is disabled, the Frequent Folders and Frequent Files menus will be empty (you can remove them in the Customize window).
When enabled, the database is refreshed by default every 60 seconds. You can change this under Collection and refresh interval (seconds).
You can also set the period considered when building the Frequent menus. For example, if you would like to see your most used items in the last week, set the Number of days to take into account in Frequent Items menus to 7. By default, the period is of 30 days. You can also increase it if you prefer to see your long term most used items.
By default the database size is limited to 3 MB. This should be enough for 30 days of normal use of QAP. But if you are an intensive user or if you wish to keep a longer period, increase this size. There is no limit to the number of days or size of the database. When the size limit is exceeded, oldest items are removed until the maximal size is respected.
If you would like to see the ranking of items in the Frequent menus, enable the Show frequency index in “Customize” window and menus. This will show that value for each item in the menus and also in the Customize window for item found in the database.
Finally, if, for privacy or any other reason, you want to delete the database content, click the Flush Frequent Items from database button. This will delete all items from the database. After you restart QAP, the Frequent and Recent items menus will be empty. If you keep the database enabled, these menus will be repopulated as new contents from the Windows Recent Items will be added, starting at the time of the last collection.
If files in the database goes offline
If you sometimes have offline network files in your Recent Items Windows folder (for example, if your portable computer is attached to network drives at work but not when you are outside office), see the recommendations about network drives.
What if the Recent menus remains empty?
The Recent Folders and Recent Files menus are populated from the Windows Recent Items folder. Check if you have recent folders and files in this system folder:
C:\Users\Username\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Recent(replace “Username” with your own user name)
or enter
%APPDATA%\Microsoft\Windows\Recent Items
If this folder is empty (or outdated), enable it in Window Settings. See instructions on one of these pages: for Windows 10 or Windows 7.