Right clicking Excel icon in the task bar no longer shows recent files

If you're like me, you've got your Excel 2007 or 2010 icon pinned to the Windows 7 task bar. It's no secret that when you right click the icon you are able to left click on any of the recent or frequent files that appear. But what happens when this right click functionality stops working? What do you do when you right click the Excel icon in the task bar and don't get a list of recent files?

Fear not, for here is the answer:

1. Click START, and in the RUN command line enter the following:

%AppData%\Microsoft]Windows\Recent\AutomaticDestinations

2. Find the following entry and delete it:

9839aec31243a928.automaticDestinations-ms

3. Close the page.

No when you right click the Excel icon in the task menu you should see a list of your recent items the way you used to!