Step 1. Open the General tab of the New Finder windows and show Option in Finder Preferences.Step 2. When you start a new Finder window, you can select any location you'd like to display instead of Recents.Step 3. It'll eliminate the Recents shortcut, usually found in the Finder sidebar.Step 4. If the Recent still shows, go to System Preferences - Spotlight - Privacy and add external drives to the exclusion list.