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How do I set Windows Explorer folders to arrange all subfolders at the top and all files from the latest to the earliest modified?

Anonymous
2023-02-14T17:50:05+00:00

I would like to set all Windows Explorer folders in the following way:

  1. All subfolders should appear at the top of a folder.
  2. All files in a folder should appear chronologically with the latest modified at the top.

How do I set this up (without doing any complex coding, through the GUI)?

Windows for home | Windows 11 | Files, folders, and storage

Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.

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  1. Les Ferch 10,326 Reputation points Volunteer Moderator
    2023-02-15T01:23:04+00:00

    In Details view:

    1. Shift-Click the Name column heading. That will lock the folders to the top of the list.
    2. Click the Last Modified column heading to alternate between ascending and descending sort by date.

    If you want to make this the default view for all folders of the same type, click View tab, Options, Change folder and search options, View tab, Apply to Folders. Note that this procedure will not update file open/save dialogs for folders that have been previously opened via a file open/save dialog.

    If you want to apply that view to ALL folder types, including file dialogs, you'll need to use this tool: WinSetView

    30+ people found this answer helpful.
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  2. Anonymous
    2023-02-19T16:32:53+00:00

    Thanks for the info. However, even though I wanted my folders locked, I also wanted my folders to be listed alphabetically while I wanted my files to be listed based on Date Modified. Now, it appears that my folders are also listed by Date Modified. Is there a way to get my folders back to being listed alphabetically while maintaining the other settings I wanted?

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  3. Les Ferch 10,326 Reputation points Volunteer Moderator
    2023-02-19T17:08:46+00:00

    In File Explorer, I don't see any way you can have the folders sorted by name and the files (at that same level) sorted by date.

    It is possible using Directory Opus which has much more granular sort capabilities:

    1 person found this answer helpful.
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  4. Anonymous
    2023-02-14T18:53:54+00:00

    Thanks for reaching out. My name is, Zadee. I'm an Independent Advisor and a Microsoft user like you. I'll be glad to help you today.

    The workaround for this at the moment is to click Sort > Click Date modified > Ascending. You'd also have to apply this to each folder you want this sorting to get applied to.

    If you have something that you think the file explorer should have, please send MS your suggestion through feedback hub. This app is where MS Engineers check user suggestions and bugs.

    https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/sen...

    Best Regards,

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