5.53 FAQ-873 How do I remove the recently-used menu items?

Last Update: 5/2/2019

If you used a menu item recently, this item is listed at the bottom of the menu list. It can list up to 10 items. Further, if an analysis menu is used, a "last-used" theme will be loaded as a sub-item under that menu, allowing you to access the last-used settings easily. If you save or install an analysis theme, it will also be loaded as a sub-item.

FAQ783-MRU-menu-items.png

From Origin 2017 SR1, we have a system variable @MRU to control whether to show these recently-used items and loading theme items in menu list. It has 3 bits:

1 = enable recently-used-items for plot menu
2 = enable recently-used-items for analysis menu
4 = enable loading theme into menu

@MRU is a combination of controlling bits. Its default value is 7, which means enable both recently-used menu (@MRU=1 for plot menu and @MRU=2 for analysis menu) and loading theme menu items (@MRU=4).

The Problem

On some systems, accumulation of recently-used menu items can induce a slight sluggishness when the user tries to open a menu (Analysis and Statistics seem most prone). If this is a problem, you can globally disable the most-recently used menu items.

To globally disable recently-used menu items:

  1. You can temporarily disable most-recently used menu items by opening the Script Window (Window: Script Window), typing the following at the prompt, then pressing Enter: 
    @mru = 0
  2. Note that this is temporary (this session only) and upon restarting Origin, your most-recently used items will display again.
  3. You can permanently disable this feature by entering @mru = 0 into the Set System Variables dialog (Preferences: System Variables).
  4. To turn recently-used menu items back on, delete @mru from your Set System Variables dialog. Alternately, set bits for menu(s) on which you wish to display recent items, using the bit values above.

Keywords:menu, recently used, last used, delay, slow, sluggish, Analysis, Statistics

Minimum Origin Version Required: Origin 2017 SR1