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How to i actually sort by name not type.

Anonymous
2010-06-07T02:23:08+00:00

I'm trying to sort my files strictly by name  when i press "name" not by file type and then by name aka the same thing clicking sort by type does. Can you please explain to me how to sort only by name regardless of type.

Windows for home | Previous Windows versions | Files, folders, and storage

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Anonymous
2010-06-07T10:34:36+00:00

I'm trying to sort my files strictly by name  when i press "name" not by file type and then by name aka the same thing clicking sort by type does. Can you please explain to me how to sort only by name regardless of type.

Hi

It sounds like you are in a Library folder.

The options you pick can depend on which type of files are in the folder. If you are in a folder optimized for Pictures, you will see different available options than in a folder optimized for Documents.

To sort alphanumeric in a pictures folder, select Folder in the Arrange By menu.

Immediately above the Arrange By menu, click the Options drop down menu and select Details.

You now have columns, Name, Date, Tag, Size, etc.

Click the top of the Name Column to sort by Name. Each time you click the top of the column, the order will reverse. You can do the same thing with any of the other columns.

In a folder optimized for Documents, it's much the same, except the list in the Arrange By menu is different. Just click Name in that list and Details in the Options menu.

Outside of the Libraries, in the normal folders, such as C:\Users\yourname\My Pictures. You will not see the Arrange By menu, only the View Menu. You simply select Details to get the named columns.

Let us know if you have more questions.

Thank You for using Windows 7

Ronnie Vernon MVP

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  1. Anonymous
    2015-10-09T16:30:34+00:00

    This does not sort all items in a folder by name alone without grouping by file extension. When working with layers from ArcGIS each spatial layer is made up of several files with the same name but different extensions. In order to move a layer from one folder to another you must move all files. This is very difficult to do when all the files of the same name but with different extensions are not grouped together. There are reasons this is doesn't work to just do in Arc Catalog so please don't tell me to go there. 

    If there is not way to sort/group files by name and not type please just say so. 

    I am extremely unclear how the original poster's question sounded like they were using a library. This sounds like the Microsoft person dodging the fact that you can't actually do this very simple thing without doing something that does not seem simple at all.

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  2. Anonymous
    2014-04-08T21:09:43+00:00

    This is insane.

    There really is no way to simply sort by name? Windows always groups folders separately from everything else?

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  3. Anonymous
    2017-07-23T11:44:20+00:00

    I don't know if anybody still needs this, but I'll leave my experience with name ordering and funny behavior.

    I have a folder with files I wish to order by date, with the date being written in the name in Japanese format (Year-month-day, it is ordered with a simple lexicographical sorting). Renamed them, but the files, being two different formats, were still separated because of the different extension.

    I looked up online, ended here, but no solution. Still searched, tried and succeeded with changing the numeral sorting.

    Open gpedit.msc (Group Policy Editor) and go to 

    Computer Configuration -> Administrative Templates -> Windows Components -> Windows Explorer

    and set enabled to the policy "Turn off numerical sorting in windows explorer".

    By magic, the files in my folder were sorted as I wanted them, by the date in the name with no regard to the extension.

    Probably it works in changing the behavior even if no number is involved in the name.

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  4. Anonymous
    2016-09-30T15:05:41+00:00

    This is definitely not what everyone in this thread wants. Within one folder, I want to sort the files AND folders within that in alphabetical order REGARDLESS of whether it's a folder or a file. None of these options help at all. There might be a number of ways to sort the files in ordinary folders or in libraries (yes, I have tried that!) but none of them are what is wanted here.

    It certainly looks like Windows cannot do this...

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