Open Recent Company

I'm here to share with you some troubleshooting steps to isolate the issue, @tallulah70-.

Since your using QuickBooks Mac 2010 the program crashes and causes data loss when the version becomes incompatible with the current macOS version. To get this fix, I recommend updating your QuickBooks Desktop for Mac to the latest release. Keeping QuickBooks up-to-date helps you fix some common errors while working with your file. To do an in-product product, follow these steps:

1. From the QuickBooks▼ dropdown, select Check for QuickBooks Updates.
2. If a newer version is available, select Install Update.
3. When prompted, select Install and Relaunch.
4. When the update is complete, QuickBooks for Mac automatically opens.

To do a manual update, you'll have to uninstall QuickBooks for Mac and reinstall the latest version. Let me show you how.

1. Close QuickBooks.
2. From the Finder menu, select Go Applications.
3. Drag the QuickBooks icon to the Trash.

• Reinstall the latest version.

1. Go to QuickBooks Downloads & Updates.
2. Make sure to select the correct country, product, and version.
3. Select Search.
4. Select Download to download the installer file.
5. Double-click the .dmg file.
6. Drag the QuickBooks icon to the Applications folder to install. To verify the update and check the release number, open QuickBooks, and press Cmd+1.

Once done, you can Restore your company file in QuickBooks. For detailed steps, refer to this article: Update QuickBooks for Mac to the latest release.

Also, you can check out these articles that will guide you on how to continue to safely use QuickBooks Desktop for Mac:

• System minimum requirements
• Risk of data file corruption and data loss for QuickBooks Desktop for Mac users who attempt to run Q...

 Additionally, I'll be sharing with you the following write-up. This will help you utilize the program: QuickBooks Desktop Mac 2021 User’s Guide.

Please know that you're always welcome to comment below if you have other concerns or follow-up inquiries about QBDT for Mac and its compatibility. I'm just around to help. Take care.

2010 is very old to be running on Catalina. I'm surprised it runs at all but would encourage you to upgrade to 2021. 

However... the Open Recent menu behavior you describe is likely not a bug in 2010. Open Recent... is maintained by macOS. The operating system tracks the files you've opened in an app and makes a list of them.  That list is referenced by the Open Recent... menu (and QuickBooks Mac uses the same list to populate the "No Company Open Window" that you see if you don't have a company open).

Choosing the "Clear" menu item in the Open Recent... menu erases the list of recently opened company files. That again is macOS behavior.  It is also possible for the list to get messed up by the OS and then it won't display. 

The company files are all still on your computer.  You can find them using Spotlight by searching for .qb2010 (which is the file extension of a company file in the Finder).  Switch to "Name matches .qb2010" to further refine it to just the company files on your computer.

Once you find the company files drag them onto the QuickBooks icon in your dock or open them using File->Open from within QuickBooks.  As you open them they should show up in the Open Recent... list.   Unless that list is corrupted - in that case you have to throw it away.   If they don't show up let me know and I'll show you where the file is located that you have to trash.