File explorer settings change on their own.

There are some misunderstandings and incorrect information in both your question and Shantal E's reply...

Windows XP was the last Windows OS that supported setting folder views on a folder tree basis. Windows Vista and beyond allow you to set a folder view for an individual folder or apply that view to all folders of the same type. The folder type can be set for a folder tree, but there are only five folder types you can choose from and there is no option to define and apply custom folder types.

The only significant thing that has changed with folder views since the Windows Vista/7 days is that, in 2019, with Windows 10 1903, Microsoft gave the Downloads folder it's own folder type and set the default view for that type to be grouped by Date modified. That was an unpopular change, yet it lives to today with the latest Windows 11.

There is a 5000 (not 50,000) default limit for the number of saved folder views. Every time you open and close folder (that hasn't been opened before) another view is added to that count. It's not a limit on the number of folders you can have on your computer, it's just a limit on the number of views File Explorer can remember. The Registry value that stores that limit can be edited to allow up to 20,000 views to be remembered. When you hit that limit you will start to see view changes being ignored.

The view count grows a little faster than expected due to name spaces. There are at least two name spaces for every folder on the drive and three name spaces for the special folders such as Documents, Pictures, etc. that correspond to the three different ways you can get to those folders (This PC, User, and drive letter). Having three virtual folders that point to the same physical location is technically a "feature" but it certainly creates headaches for setting folder views.

For example, if you set the view for a folder that you accessed via "This PC" and then access that folder via your User icon, you would think the view was "lost", but it wasn't. It's just a different view for the same location. So, for example, if you change your view for Pictures, you'll need to select the "Apply to Folders" option to make that view apply to all folders of type "Pictures".

However, the "Apply to Folders" button is not much use if you only want to change the view for a particular folder or tree (instead of all folders of the same type) and have that view applied across all the name spaces (i.e. get the same view regardless of how you get to that folder). There currently is no way to do that. The views would have to be set individually.

The option "Remember each folder's view settings" was last seen in Windows XP, so don't knock yourself out looking for that. Windows Vista and beyond automatically remember each folder's view setting (up to the limit as previously mentioned) and that cannot be turned off.

Without any additional software, the tools you have are:

1. The option to set any given folder (or folder tree) to one of the five common folder types (General items, Documents, Pictures, Music, Videos). Do this via right-click on a folder (or white space within a folder) and select Properties, Customize, and then select your desired folder type from the "Optimize this folder for" menu. Optionally check "Also apply this template to all subfolders" if you want that type to apply to all subfolders.
2. Redefine the view for any given folder type. Do this by setting the view the way you want it and then go to the View menu, Options, Change folder and search options, View, and then click "Apply to Folders". Please note that this option will NOT reset the view for file open/save dialogs for folders that were previously opened via a file dialog box. Those views have to be changed individually via a right-click in the white space of the file dialog.

If you've hit the 5000 saved views limit or just want to set all your preferred default views globally (including file dialogs) then you may want to try my free app WinSetView. All the details are in the documentation, but in summary, you would choose the default views you want for each folder type (including all folder sub-views, such as search results, libraries, etc.) and then it applies those changes by setting the correct registry entries, clearing out all the saved views (i.e. 5000 saved view limit is reset) and then restarts Explorer. There's no overhead, patching, or other funny business. It's just applies settings that Explorer already supports and I expect it will fix things up nicely for you.

Hello Ichigo, thank you for you inquiry. My name is Shantal I'm an independent advisor, I am happy to help.

I understand how frustrating it can be when File Explorer settings seem to change on their own. Windows 10 has made some changes to the way folder settings are handled compared to older versions like XP and 7, which allowed individual locked settings for folders. In Windows 10, folder settings are managed globally and can be influenced by several factors.

Here are some possible reasons for the behavior you're experiencing:

Default Folder View: Windows 10 uses a default folder view setting that applies to most folders. If you change the view settings for a specific folder, it should retain those settings until you open a subfolder, which might inherit the parent folder's settings.

Automatic Folder Optimization: Windows 10 tries to optimize the folder view based on the contents of the folder. For example, if you have mostly image files in a folder, Windows may choose to display them as thumbnails. This optimization can sometimes override your custom settings.

Folder Templates: Windows 10 uses folder templates to determine how folders are displayed. For example, you might have a "Documents" template that sorts files by date modified, while another template for "Pictures" displays files as thumbnails. These templates can influence the view settings when you access certain types of folders.

File Explorer Options: It's possible that specific File Explorer options or settings might be affecting the behavior. For instance, the "Remember each folder's view settings" option should be enabled in the Folder Options.

To try to resolve this issue and regain more control over folder view settings:

Apply Folder View to Subfolders: After setting the desired view for a folder, you can go to "View" in File Explorer, click on "Options," go to the "View" tab, and then click "Apply to Folders." This should apply the current view settings to all subfolders as well.

Folder Options: Make sure the "Remember each folder's view settings" option is enabled in Folder Options. To access Folder Options, open File Explorer, click on the "View" tab, and then select "Options" on the right side.

Registry Edit (Advanced): If you're comfortable with editing the registry, you can find and delete specific folder settings in the registry. However, this requires caution and should only be attempted if you have experience with registry editing.

I hope this information is of use.

Kind regards,

Shantal.

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