SUMMARY
I have disabled recent files but Dolphin still creates a recently-used.xbel file.

STEPS TO REPRODUCE

1. In System Settings > Recent Files, set "Remember opened documents" to "Do not remember".

2. Move the existing recently-used.xbel file:
mv ~/.local/share/recently-used.xbel ~/.local/share/recently-used.xbel.old

3. Open Dolphin and launch a file. (I opened a text file in Kate to be sure I wasn't launching a non-QT app).

4. Verify that a file has been created:
ls -al ~/.local/share/recently-used.xbel

5. Open the file in Kate to show that it contains a list of recently opened files:
kate ~/.local/share/recently-used.xbel


OBSERVED RESULT
~/.local/share/recently-used.xbel is created when Recent Files have been set to "Do not remember".


EXPECTED RESULT
~/.local/share/recently-used.xbel should not be created when Recent Files have been set to "Do not remember".


SOFTWARE/OS VERSIONS
Operating System: Kubuntu 24.10
KDE Plasma Version: 6.1.5
KDE Frameworks Version: 6.6.0
Qt Version: 6.6.2
Kernel Version: 6.11.0-19-generic (64-bit)
Graphics Platform: Wayland