Sorting folders in Windows Explorer?

I’d want to know how to ensure that all my folders will be sorted and displayed on top of all the files in Windows Explorer

2 Answers 2

I’m using Windows 7, so the process might be a little different on Windows 8.1.

First, a possible simple solution.

If you are sorting by Name for example, and you see that the file and folder names are sorted by Name , but in reverse order (descending), and all the folders are grouped together and displayed at the bottom of the list, then just click on the Name column header to restore sorting to Ascending.

If this doesn’t help, or if you want to set how folders are displayed for all (or many) folders, then.

Open Windows Explorer and navigate to the folder you want to change the sorting/grouping of files and folders. If you want to change how it is displayed on the entire drive, then navigate to the root of the drive.

Click the View menu and then Group By .

You will have choices like:

Choose (None). If you don’t see a choice for (None), then it is already set to «(None)».

If you don’t see the menu bar with File Edit View etc. then click on Organise -> Layout -> Menu Bar to enable the menu bar.

Then change the way things are sorted however you like from the menu View Sort by .

When you are done with this, click Tools Folder Options . Then click on the View Tab, and click the Apply to Folders button.

Windows overrides the view of some folders so some folders may not be afffected by your changes.

Solving File Explorer bug:

Sorting in File Explorer with all files sorted as one big group, is the default in Windows 8.1.

This morning my windows explorer had mysteriously switched to bunching or grouping the files in 4 groups: «0-9» «a-h» «i-p» and «q-z».

This created the problem that clicking on the header of the «Date modified» column, to bring up the most recent files in my Documents folder, no longer worked properly — the top listed files would only be the most recently saved files whose names began with numerals 0 — 9. Finding all of the most recent files would require also scrolling down to check each of the «a-h» «i-p» and «q-z» sections, which in my large Documents folder would be very slow and inconvenient. In my normal workflow I want to see all the most recent files immediately whenever I open File Explorer.

The fix to this problem in Windows 8.1 is the same as the procedure Kevin Fegan describes above: In File Explorer click the View tab, click the Group By dropdown, and click None.

I couldn’t find Microsoft help instructions for this problem. File > Help said to search in Microsoft Community, directing to the Windows 8.1 «Files, Folders and Storage» which has 1,000 entries with no way to search through them. A Google search turned up nothing.

How to sort folders in Win Explorer without 3rd party app?

I have thousands of files nested within subfolders of subfolders. When I am in the root directory with a list of all my main folders, I want to be able to sort by size (largest main folder to smallest, dictated by the contents of its subfolders).

By default, Win Explorer only sorts individual files. Is there an easy way to change this behavior without a 3rd party app? Otherwise, I’d be happy with an AutoHotkey-oriented solution too.

2 Answers 2

Windows 8.1, just like its predecessors, doesn’t show size of folders in Windows Explorer (File Explorer) by default. That is, when you open up a folder containing several files and folders, Windows Explorer shows only the size of files and not folders in Details view.

In order to view the size of a folder in Windows Explorer, one needs to either hover mouse cursor on the folder, or select the folder, right-click on it, and then click Properties (one can quickly open properties by using Alt + Enter hotkey).

You can sort by folder size in OSX, but unfortunately there’s no built in way to do so in Windows.

So back to your question, I don’t think there is any way to display folder size without a third party app. I guess the way without a 3rd party tool would be to right-click>Properties.

Sort folders in windows explorer

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Question

In windows file explorer I am wondering if its possible to list folder first then have the last accessed files right under the folders afterwords. I need to have the ability to see folders first , then last used / modified files.

If i list folders first now, then the last accessed files comes down at the bottom.

All replies

Hi Thomas Bestorp ,

In any version of Windows, when you sort items in a folder in descending order by Date Modified column, folders move to the bottom and files go to the top. The following is the usual behavior.

Please check the link below to get more information about sort files by date modified, but folders always before files in Windows Explorer?

Please Note: Since the website is not hosted by Microsoft, the link may change without notice. Microsoft does not guarantee the accuracy of this information.

Please remember to mark the replies as answers if they help.
If you have feedback for TechNet Subscriber Support, contact tnmff@microsoft.com.

• Proposed as answer by Carl Fan Microsoft contingent staff Wednesday, May 3, 2017 11:17 AM

This is not true. I all of my instances of Windows until this year, if you sort in descending order by date, the folders would always be on top in descending order of the the last saved file in the folder, then all the files would be in descending order of their last saved date.

To answer the original question:

1) Sort by Date Modified (descending)

2) Hold the Shift button, then click the Name column heading.

I wonder how many people irritate themselves over not being able to sort by date with folders first. That’s usually an issue when you’re having several subfolders in a project folders and want to have the most recent folders on top.

Why isn’t this info better available? Shift-click on name is such a simple solution!

Anyway. Thanks AZRA. You win the windows internet today as far as I’m concerned.

Is there are way to make this the permanent default setting?

I see it works, but it would be nice if I didn’t have to repeat it every time and in every folder. In Windows 7, I had it set up that way within every folder and for all operations (save, search, attach file, etc).

Yes, thank you for Azra for sharing this info; it’s such a basic and common need, you’d think the info would be more readily available.

This is not true. I all of my instances of Windows until this year, if you sort in descending order by date, the folders would always be on top in descending order of the the last saved file in the folder, then all the files would be in descending order of their last saved date.

To answer the original question:

1) Sort by Date Modified (descending)

2) Hold the Shift button, then click the Name column heading.

Is there are way to make this the permanent default setting?

I see it works, but it would be nice if I didn’t have to repeat it every time and in every folder. In Windows 7, I had it set up that way within every folder and for all operations (save, search, attach file, etc).

Yes, thank you for Azra for sharing this info; it’s such a basic and common need, you’d think the info would be more readily available.

How to sort, group, and filter files & folders in Windows 10’s File Explorer

It’s important to know how to sort, group, and filter files and folders in Windows 10, especially if you work with a lot of them. No matter how hard you try to organize everything, it may be difficult at times to find a specific item or set of items. That’s why File Explorer includes plenty of options for sorting, grouping, and filtering files and folders, using all kinds of criteria in Windows 10. This tutorial illustrates how to sort, group, and filter folders and files in Windows 10’s File Explorer, so you can be more efficient in managing items and finding what you are looking for:

How to sort files and folders in Windows 10

Sorting files and folders reorders them in File Explorer based on the criteria you prefer. There are over 300 criteria available, and you can apply whichever you prefer. By default, in Windows 10, your files and folders are sorted in Ascending order by Name – or alphabetically – except for the Downloads folder, which is sorted in Descending order by Date modified – newest downloads are displayed on top.

One option to begin sorting files and folders is to right-click or press-and-hold on a free area inside the folder to open a contextual menu. Then, hover or tap on Sort by to reveal the four main sorting options for that view template. Our folder uses the General items template, so we can sort it quickly by Name, Date modified, Type, and Size. Click or tap on any of the options, and the items are reordered on that basis.

You can reveal more options from File Explorer’s View tab. In the Current view section, click or tap on Sort by.

Same as before, the sorting options displayed are specific to that folder’s view template. To add more criteria to the Sort by menus, click or tap Choose columns.

If you’re using the right-click Sort by menu, click or tap on More to add extra criteria.

This opens the Choose Details window, where only the four main criteria are selected. Click or tap the boxes of the sorting criteria that you would like to use, or select an entry and then click or tap the Show and Hide buttons on the right to add or remove that specific sorting option.

NOTE: You can also select any sorting option and then use the Move Up and Move Down buttons to reposition it in the list.

After selecting your sorting criteria, click or tap OK.

TIP: Any criteria you add to the Sort by menus are also added automatically to the Group by menu discussed in the next section. You can also use the Add columns button from the Current view section of the View tab to expand or shrink the existing list of criteria. The button is greyed out unless you’re using the Details view Layout.

Any new sorting option is now available both at the bottom of the Sort by list, in the right-click contextual menu, and as a separate column header – if you’re using the Details view Layout. Click or tap on it to reorder things on this basis.

If you press the Sort by button from File Explorer’s View tab, you can also find the new sorting option under the default ones. Click or tap on it, and the files are instantly rearranged based on your selection.

Regardless of the sorting option you’re using, the sorting results can be displayed in either Ascending or Descending order. For instance, when sorting by the default Name option, Ascending means the files and folders are arranged from A to Z, while Descending sorts items from Z to A. If you want to reverse the order for your criteria, you can click or tap (again) on its column header, or check the appropriate option from the right-click Sort by menu, as seen below.

You can also choose to display items as Ascending or Descending by pressing the Sort by button and selecting the order you prefer.

Alternatively, accessing the Sort by menu and clicking or tapping on the active sorting option also reverses the order of the items.

How to group files and folders in Windows 10

You can also group files and folders using the different criteria in Windows 10’s File Explorer. This organizes all the items in a folder, breaking them into separate sections, based on the detail you choose. By default, items in Windows 10 are not grouped into any category, the only exceptions being:

• Downloads – grouped in Descending order by Date modified to help you find the newest downloaded items on top.
• This PC – grouped by Type in Ascending order. This location has different sorting and grouping alternatives.
• Network – grouped in Ascending order by Category. This location also comes with different sorting and grouping options than other folders.

Right-click or press-and-hold on a free area inside the folder whose contents you want to group. In the contextual menu, hover or tap on Group by to reveal the four main grouping options for that folder. The categories shown differ based on each folder’s view template. Click or tap on any of the displayed criteria to group items on that basis.

For instance, we want to group the contents of the media files folder by Type. Clicking or tapping on Type offers a different perspective over the files in our media folder, as seen below.

You can also group files and folders from the View tab in File Explorer. Click or tap on the Group by button from the Current view section.

Click or tap on any of the criteria from the dropdown menu to group items on that basis. When a grouping option is selected, a new entry becomes available in the Group by menus: (None). Clicking or tapping on it cancels any grouping, and items are shown the usual way again.

As soon as you group items, the Ascending and Descending options are no longer greyed out, and the Ascending option is enabled by default. For instance, when we grouped our media files by Type, the groups were shown in alphabetical order (JPG, MP3, MP4, and PNG). Selecting Descending reverts the order – PNG, MP4, MP3, and JPG.

The same options are also available from the right-click Group by menu. For additional grouping criteria, click or tap on More or use the Add columns button – only active in Details view.

You can also use the Group by button from the View tab, and then press Choose columns.

Since any new criteria you add in the Group by menus are also added automatically to the Sort by menu, the two also share the Choose Details window discussed in the previous section. Check any of the options you want to add as grouping criteria and press OK to find them in the Group by menus.

TIP: Keep in mind that grouping items also sorts them by the same attribute automatically. However, you can first group items by one attribute, and then sort them by a different one to see them in a certain order within each grouping section.

Clicking or tapping on any group’s header selects that section’s entire content.

Double-clicking or double-tapping on a header toggles between collapsing or expanding the section. You can do the same thing by clicking or tapping on the arrow button next to a header.

If the grouping option you select is incompatible with some of the items in your folder, they appear in a section named Unspecified. We grouped our media folder by Authors, and the files without a designated author appeared in a separate Unspecified group.

How to filter files and folders in Windows 10

In Windows 10, File Explorer can filter the contents of a folder if you’re using the Details view. Similar to the grouping feature, filtering folders and files helps you narrow down the items you need by only showing the content that fits your criteria.

The Details view shows several columns, each displaying more information about the items in that folder (Name, Date modified, Type, Size, etc.). If you hover the cursor over a column header, you can see a small down arrow shown to its right. Click on it. For touchscreens, tap on the right side of a column’s header.

To understand filtering in File Explorer’s Details view, let’s see how to filter a folder to display only PNG files in Windows 10. Pressing the down arrow next to Type reveals a dropdown menu where the filtering alternatives are the type of files included in the folder. Select the items you want to see – in our case, PNG File.

When you’re done, the only contents shown are the ones that match your selection. File Explorer is now displaying the filtering criteria in the address bar, and the down arrow is replaced by a checkmark, indicating a filter is currently applied.

You can continue to apply filters using any of the Details columns, to further narrow down the files in the folder. Use the Add columns button in the Current view section from File Explorer’s View tab to reveal a menu where you can check the columns you want and even Choose columns to include additional ones.

Pressing Choose columns opens the same Choose Details window discussed in the first section of this tutorial. Use it to select any other categories you want to filter by.

If you enable many Details columns, press the “Size all columns to fit” button to change their width according to their contents.

Right-click or press-and-hold on any column header to reveal the “Size Column to Fit” option. You can also add additional columns or “Size All Columns to Fit” from the same contextual menu.

There are several ways to remove filters from your folder in File Explorer. If you want to remove all the filters applied, click or tap on the folder’s name in the address bar.

You can also click or tap on the checkmark to reveal the available filters, and then uncheck the box next to the filter(s) you want to remove.

Finally, press the Back button to remove the filter you added last. For multiple filters, click or tap on Back to remove each one. Press Forward to reapply a filter.

Which of the illustrated options fits you best?

As you can see, File Explorer provides some powerful tools for sorting, grouping, and filtering your files and folders. Try out the options illustrated in this tutorial to see what fits you best. You might just need to sort through a messy folder, but filtering could be required if it has more files than expected. Either way, you should be able to organize and locate files and folders a lot faster. Before you close this tutorial, let us know which of the options fits you best and why. Leave a comment below.