diff --git a/fmusim-gui/MainWindow.cpp b/fmusim-gui/MainWindow.cpp
index bf690b80..da8e7816 100644
--- a/fmusim-gui/MainWindow.cpp
+++ b/fmusim-gui/MainWindow.cpp
@@ -82,7 +82,7 @@ MainWindow::MainWindow(QWidget *parent)
 
     QSettings settings;
 
-    QStringList recentFiles = settings.value("recentFiles").toStringList();
+    const QStringList recentFiles = settings.value("recentFiles").toStringList();
 
     for (const QString& filename : recentFiles.mid(0, 5)) {
         QFileInfo fileInfo(filename);
@@ -92,6 +92,8 @@ MainWindow::MainWindow(QWidget *parent)
         vbox->addWidget(link);
     }
 
+    ui->recentFilesGroupBox->setVisible(!recentFiles.isEmpty());
+
     // load the web engine, so the window doesn't jump later
     ui->plotWebEngineView->setHtml("");