What if "My Recent Documents" always show as empty?

This is caused by the system using the related Group Policy or by modifying the registry.

The correct approach is to use Group Policy, run "gpedit.msc", and in the user Configuration → admin templates → taskbar and Start menu, set the two policy "do not keep records of recently opened documents" and "purge recently opened document records when exiting" to "Not Configured". You can also run "regedit" to open Registry Editor, expand "Hkey_current_usersoftwaremicrosoftwindowscurrentversionpoliciesexplorer", and " Clearrecentdocsonexit "Key value entries are deleted directly.