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Folder Options, View, Apply to Folders: Can I not set the whole drive and all folders/subfolders/files so its always the same View setting (List)?

Anonymous
2022-09-06T01:20:21+00:00

Just did a new Win7 install and as can be expected there are lots of surprises.

I just want to set the Folder Options, View, "Apply to Folders" so everything is consistent from top to bottom. But I can't do this from the hard drive letter. I can't even do this with subfolders! It used to work. Something must be blocking it. I've never had this problem before. I thought that once I set things to List view at the top, whatever folder was in that will display its contents in List view. I must have done something.

Any suggestions?

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

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Anonymous
2022-09-06T14:23:18+00:00

File Explorer folder views and their defaults work the same from Windows 7 all the way to Windows 11. The "Apply to folders" button will set the selected view for all folders of the same type. Subfolders that are a different type (e.g. Generic vs Music vs Videos) will not change, but you can first change the folder type for a folder tree to be all one type.

Anyhow, it's much easier to run WinSetView to set the default folder views globally. It's a free, open source, portable app that just sets File Explorer folder view default registry entries for you. It leaves nothing running, so there's no overhead.

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  1. Anonymous
    2022-09-06T23:27:44+00:00

    Here's the solution. DON'T USE THIS ABOMINATION OF A FILE MANAGER. There are lots out there. Pick what you like. Designed by thinking people. The problem is Windows Explorer kind of works, then lets you down over and over again. Its like it was designed to aggravate.

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  2. Anonymous
    2022-09-06T23:26:27+00:00

    This is so infuriating. How anyone could have made it like this is just incomprehensible. XP worked so well. It allowed you to set the Folder Children. Win7 seems to abolish this logic. How about Win10? Did they do away with the whole thing entirely? Wouldn't surprise me. How people get paid to design like this is just mind boggling.

    Every bloody folder seems to default to Details view wasting space. I want List. This seems impossible. It doesn't even go 2 deep sometimes. Moronic developers. Why does Microsoft hire such people? Its like overseeing toddlers.

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  3. Anonymous
    2022-09-06T23:01:57+00:00

    If I saw the contents and opened one of the files up, wouldn't that mean I've "extracted the contents of the zip file"? It mentions to check for file association for the .hta extension and it was correct. Sounds like a great program.

    Meanwhile do you know if I should be able to set the folder options from the drive letter? Basically at the top? If not, then every new folder I create I'll have to do it all over again. That would be insane. Why won't I be surprised if that's the way they designed it? Horrified but not surprised.

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  4. Anonymous
    2022-09-06T11:41:03+00:00

    FWIW win7 support including updates of any type ended Jan 2020

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