There is such a list in the Start menu. In Word, you can append MRU list to
the end of the File menu.
Tools Options General

You can also add a Work menu for frequently used documents.
http://addbalance.com/word/workmenu.htm
--
Charles Kenyon

Word New User FAQ & Web Directory: http://addbalance.com/word

Intermediate User's Guide to Microsoft Word (supplemented version of
Microsoft's Legal Users' Guide) http://addbalance.com/usersguide

See also the MVP FAQ: http://word.mvps.org/FAQs/ which is awesome!
--------- --------- --------- --------- --------- ---------
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from my ignorance and your wisdom.

"Uncle Joe" wrote in message
...
Suzanne, before you posted your response, I decided to
repair my copy of Word using the Word 2003 disc. The
repair ran fine and I rebooted. After re-launching Word,
could detect no changes to Word. Still no recently used
file list.

Created a couple of test Word documents and saved them
as Test1 and Test2. Closed Word and then re-launched it.
The files Test1 and Test2 appear at the bottom of the File
menu, directly above Exit. That wasn't the case before the
repair action.

Must be losing my mind. Could have sworn that there
was a "Recently Used" entry under the File menu, which
consisted of a drop down list of recently used files. May
be thinking of another app such as Photoshop but am almost
certain I saw it in Word, too. Will check out the registry
link you provided. Thanks.

"Suzanne S. Barnhill" wrote in message
...
I don't think this can be done through Tools | Customize, which doesn't
have
a "command" listed for it. Resetting the menu might help. If the setting
were disabled in Options, I'd suspect TweakUI or the like, but since you
can
apparently change that setting, that isn't the issue. Have you tried
rebooting Windows or at least restarting Word? If even that doesn't help,
then perhaps your Registry needs a nudge; see
http://word.mvps.org/FAQs/AppErrors/MissingMenusEtc.htm

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA
Word MVP FAQ site: http://word.mvps.org
Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup
so
all may benefit.

"Uncle Joe" wrote in message
...
Hi. Windows XP Home, Pentium 4, 1 GB, Word 2003

Realized with a start today that the "Recently Used File List"
option has disappeared from File Menu. I depend heavily
on it.

Double checked Tools Options General and the
"Recently Used File List" option is enabled and 9 files
are specified in the list box.

Manually opened a couple of existing Word documents,
slightly modified them, saved them, and Closed Word.
Reopened Word hoping to see the Recently Used File List
had reappeared, and would show the two documents in
the list. No joy! Darn.

Any ideas on how to reclaim this valuable File List option
Thank you.