Problem With the Jump List - Fails to Work!

I have been having the same problem. I tried the steps others have suggested, but too no avail. However, I think I have found a simple solution.

I noticed that in the Set Associations dialog, the program being used for .xlsx was "Microsoft Open XML Converter". This by itself didn't seem like a problem because Word docs (.docx) were set the same way, but weren't having the same Jump List problem. After clicking Change Program, I noticed that MS Excel was NOT in the list of programs recommended for .xlsx (but MS Word was for .docx).

So to get things working again for me, I changed the .xlsx program to use MS Excel. (From Set Associations, selected .xlsx, click Change Program..., click Browse..., navigated to c:\program files (x86)\Microsoft Office\Office12\, selected excel.exe, click Open, click OK.) I then changed it back to the Microsoft Open XML Converter, but this time Excel is a recommended program and my jump lists are back to functioning again.

I've put screenshots in the attached Word document.

flloyd14:

Clever solution. I've been looking for a solution to this problem for weeks and you found it. Much appreciated.

I have this problem again in a new W7 laptop with Office 2007. Jump lists work for everything except the Office apps.
Also, if I have Office docs open, the open docs are not listed when I right-click the Office app's icon on the Taskbar.
I've tried deleting everything in %appdata%\Microsoft\Windows\Recent\AutomaticDestinations
I've toggled the Taskbar\ Properties\ check boxes to store and display recently opened items and recently opened programs.
Rather annoying!

OK, I think I have this fixed:

• Close all Office apps.
• Right-click any Office apps that are pinned to the Taskbar and then click "Unpin this program from the Taskbar".
• Find a document file for the Office app (for example, a Word doc or an Excel sheet), and then drag that file to the taskbar.

That should pin the doc file and the appropriate Office app to the taskbar. Then you can pin (or unpin) additional docs using the normal methods.

Hope this helps others!

I have a Win 7 system with Office 2010 and my recently used file list for Word became blank on the Start menu. I had tried everything listed before finding this forum and was becoming frustrated as I checked off one suggestion after another as having been useless for me. Then I came to Flloyd14's post.

I started to examine my file associations for .doc and .docx and, while there was nothing wrong with them, I created a junk file for each, changed them temporarily to open with Notepad, then changed them back. As soon as I opened them in Word my list started working again!

I've done high-level tech support for large companies for a number of years in previous positions so I'm ridiculously thorough when trying to fix my own problems. Sometimes it really is the little things that cure what ails you.