How to Clear the Run Command History in Windows 10 and 11

Where the Run history lives and what it exposes

Windows stores the Run dialog's most-recently-used list in the registry under HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\RunMRU. The values inside are simply lettered a, b, c and so on, each holding one command you typed, plus an MRUList string that records the order — the dropdown is rebuilt from that map every time you open the box. The list is capped at 26 entries, one for each letter of the alphabet, and it is written per user account, so every profile on the machine keeps its own history. Nothing here controls how programs launch: delete the lot and each command still runs exactly as before.

Privacy is the real reason most people clear it: anyone who sits down at your unlocked session — or reads a registry export pulled from a backup — sees exactly which tools you fire up, be it diskmgmt.msc, cmd, regedit, a VPN client's path or an internal server share. Run history also travels happily with a profile during PC migrations, carried over by the same tools that move the Recent files list. The right mental model is the Recent items list: a convenience trail that deserves an occasional sweep.

• Stored per user in HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\RunMRU
• Lettered values a, b, c… hold the commands; MRUList keeps their order
• Hard cap of 26 entries — new commands push the oldest ones out
• Visible to anyone using your session or your profile backups
• No Clear button exists in the Run dialog itself
• Deleting the values affects nothing except the dropdown suggestions

Clearing it: Registry Editor or one command

The manual route: press Win+R, type regedit and press Enter. Navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\RunMRU, click any value in the right-hand pane, press Ctrl+A to select everything and hit Delete — leave the (Default) entry alone, it should stay empty anyway. Confirm, close Registry Editor, and the next time you open the Run box the dropdown is blank; if an entry still lingers, sign out and back in or restart Explorer from Task Manager.

The one-liner does the same without clicking: open Command Prompt or PowerShell and run reg delete HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\RunMRU /va /f. The /va switch wipes every value in that key and /f skips the confirmation prompt, so the command is safe only because the path points at one harmless MRU list — double-check the line before pressing Enter. Both methods clear the history of the current user only; other accounts on the machine keep their own lists until you repeat the job under them.

Keeping the trail clean going forward

Clearing RunMRU is a snapshot, not a setting: Windows starts recording again with the very next command, because there is no supported switch that tells the dialog to stop remembering. On a shared or work machine, a monthly wipe of the local-trace trio — Run history, Recent items, jump lists — keeps the machine from narrating your habits; the same pass is worth doing before you hand a laptop to a colleague or sell it. The junk half of that routine — temp files, caches, browser leftovers — is what cleanup utilities such as Kleaner PRO automate, while the Run list itself stays a one-line reg delete.

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