diff --git a/next/src/shared/contracts/settings.test.ts b/next/src/shared/contracts/settings.test.ts
index 88f6b8ce..58f2ceb4 100644
--- a/next/src/shared/contracts/settings.test.ts
+++ b/next/src/shared/contracts/settings.test.ts
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ it('uses the MooTool Next visual defaults', () => {
   expect(defaultAppSettings.appearance.interfaceStyle).toBe('modern')
   expect(defaultAppSettings.appearance.fontSize).toBe(13)
   expect(defaultAppSettings.layout.navigationStyle).toBe('classic')
+  expect(defaultAppSettings.layout.showRecent).toBe(false)
   expect(defaultAppSettings.editor.quickNoteFontSize).toBe(14)
   expect(defaultAppSettings.editor.jsonFontName).toBe('ui-monospace')
   expect(defaultAppSettings.editor.quickNoteFontName).toBe('ui-monospace')
@@ -22,9 +23,14 @@ describe('mergeSettings', () => {
     expect(settings.general.language).toBe('en-US')
     expect(settings.general.trayEnabled).toBe(defaultAppSettings.general.trayEnabled)
     expect(settings.layout.compactNavigation).toBe(true)
+    expect(settings.layout.showRecent).toBe(false)
     expect(settings.appearance).toEqual(defaultAppSettings.appearance)
   })
 
+  it('preserves an explicit recent-tools preference', () => {
+    expect(mergeSettings(defaultAppSettings, { layout: { showRecent: true } }).layout.showRecent).toBe(true)
+  })
+
   it('normalizes numeric settings at their supported boundaries', () => {
     const settings = mergeSettings(defaultAppSettings, {
       appearance: { fontSize: 200 },
diff --git a/next/src/shared/contracts/settings.ts b/next/src/shared/contracts/settings.ts
index 6c105468..14f3c505 100644
--- a/next/src/shared/contracts/settings.ts
+++ b/next/src/shared/contracts/settings.ts
@@ -139,7 +139,7 @@ export const defaultAppSettings: AppSettings = {
     unifiedBackground: true
   },
   layout: {
-    showRecent: true,
+    showRecent: false,
     compactNavigation: false,
     showSeparators: true,
     hideNavigationTitles: false,