The VideoLAN Forums

At the bottom of the "Open File" window, where it says File name, clicking on the down arrow shows a list of files that were played on VLC.

I prefer not having this list. How can I delete the list of files played and disable it?

This is done by Windows Explorer and I don't know if you can disable this feature.
FYI these file names are stored in the sub keys of HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\ComDlg32\OpenSavePidlMRU\ in the registry.

in tools > preferences > interface, you can uncheck "save recently played item", this will prevent recent medias to be stored, but be wary that this concerns both the windows recent list (the one you're mentioning) and the "media" > "open recent media" list

This is done by Windows Explorer and I don't know if you can disable this feature.
FYI these file names are stored in the sub keys of HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\ComDlg32\OpenSavePidlMRU\ in the registry.

Are ComDlg32 and OpenSavePidlMRU present in Windows 11?

in tools > preferences > interface, you can uncheck "save recently played item", this will prevent recent medias to be stored, but be wary that this concerns both the windows recent list (the one you're mentioning) and the "media" > "open recent media" list

The recent item list showed up, even though I had previously unchecked the option.

in tools > preferences > interface, you can uncheck "save recently played item", this will prevent recent medias to be stored, but be wary that this concerns both the windows recent list (the one you're mentioning)

No, He's talking about the drop down files list of the Windows Explorer Open File box which is managed by Windows Explorer.

Are ComDlg32 and OpenSavePidlMRU present in Windows 11?

If the file names appear in the drop down list then Windows stores them.
You can find the keys where these names are stored in binary format with an advanced registry editor like the freeware Registry Finder because Windows Regedit can't do that.

Are ComDlg32 and OpenSavePidlMRU present in Windows 11?

If the file names appear in the drop down list then Windows stores them.
You can find the keys where these names are stored in binary format with an advanced registry editor like the freeware Registry Finder because Windows Regedit can't do that.

I opened OpenSavePidlMRU. The files are mp3, so I clicked on OpenSavePidlMRU\mp3. Three RED_BINARY FILES are there, named "0", "1", and "MRUListEx". Are these the files appearing in the VLC drop down?

The file names are encoded in binary format. Double click on the data value and a small window which looks like an hex editor will pop up then you can see the file name on the right part.
Be careful when modifying the registry, always make a backup before doing anything. You're doing it at your own risks.