General Apply Folder View to All Folders in Windows 11

CodeKiller · Jan 20, 2024

LesFerch said:
Yup, I know. The issue with file dialog views not getting updated via "Apply to Folders" is true from Windows 7 to the latest Windows 11 build. In 2021, File Explorer in Windows 11 was mostly the same as Windows 10, so it's likely that "Apply to Folders" would have only applied to the root of Downloads at that time.

Sadly it is still true in 2024...

The folder view options does not work for child as long as the folder is already in a "Profile" folder (Music, etc.).
Easy to see :
Move a folder from "Documents" to the root of a drive.
Change the display setting for this folder and tick the box.
Open subfolders, it works.
Move the folder into the "library" as some of you call it, and... BOOM... The display is still "Document/Picture/etc" but the view itself will reset to the parent view...
So you can have "general" (don't know if it is the English name) view in a "Music" folder and still displayed as... Music...

Microsoft fixed that, but not for "Library" folders...

LesFerch · Jan 20, 2024

CodeKiller said:
The folder view options does not work for child as long as the folder is already in a "Profile" folder (Music, etc.).
Easy to see :
Move a folder from "Documents" to the root of a drive.
Change the display setting for this folder and tick the box.
Open subfolders, it works.
Move the folder into the "library" as some of you call it, and... BOOM... The display is still "Document/Picture/etc" but the view itself will reset to the parent view...
So you can have "general" (don't know if it is the English name) view in a "Music" folder and still displayed as... Music...

Microsoft fixed that, but not for "Library" folders...

Folder views are not applied on a subfolder (i.e. "child") basis. In your example, you've created a new folder at the root of a drive, which, upon first opening, will be assigned a particular folder type, such as "General items" or "Pictures", depending on its content. When you clicked "Apply to Folders" (and I assume that's what you meant by "tick the box") then you are telling Windows to change ALL folders of that same type to match the current folder's view. Of course, if the subfolders have similar content, they will be the same type and hence also pick up that new view. But don't be fooled into thinking you made a change to that folder tree only. You changed the view for all folders of that same type.

Library folders are just a way of seeing content from any number of folders in a single view. Nothing is actually moved to a library. When you add a folder to a library, you're just telling Windows to include that additional folder to the list of folders that are displayed for that library. The view that is used is whatever view you have set for the library. The library is its own folder type, so, unfortunately, "Apply to Folders" on a "Documents" type folder doesn't affect the "Documents" library. And to make things even more painful, "Apply to Folders" is grayed out in Libraries, which makes it rather difficult to change the Library's view for all folders.

Microsoft could make things less confusing, but I wouldn't count on that happening any time soon. At least you can use WinSetView to set all the folder types, including Libraries, to your preferred defaults views.

CodeKiller · Jan 20, 2024

LesFerch said:
Folder views are not applied on a subfolder (i.e. "child") basis. In your example, you've created a new folder at the root of a drive, which, upon first opening, will be assigned a particular folder type, such as "General items" or "Pictures", depending on its content. When you clicked "Apply to Folders" (and I assume that's what you meant by "tick the box") then you are telling Windows to change ALL folders of that same type to match the current folder's view. Of course, if the subfolders have similar content, they will be the same type and hence also pick up that new view. But don't be fooled into thinking you made a change to that folder tree only. You changed the view for all folders of that same type.

Library folders are just a way of seeing content from any number of folders in a single view. Nothing is actually moved to a library. When you add a folder to a library, you're just telling Windows to include that additional folder to the list of folders that are displayed for that library. The view that is used is whatever view you have set for the library. The library is its own folder type, so, unfortunately, "Apply to Folders" on a "Documents" type folder doesn't affect the "Documents" library. And to make things even more painful, "Apply to Folders" is grayed out in Libraries, which makes it rather difficult to change the Library's view for all folders.

Microsoft could make things less confusing, but I wouldn't count on that happening any time soon. At least you can use WinSetView to set all the folder types, including Libraries, to your preferred defaults views.

Wrong.

I am not talking about what you are talking about... (and you are wrong in the bug description also).

English translation of the French capture attached : "Also apply this model (whatever the word you want to use instead of model) to... ALL SUB FOLDERS"
To get here ? Righ click on a folder, Properties, Personalize (right tab don't know the EN name).
Here you have the "box" to tick...
This one DOES NOT WORK FOR LIBRARY AND ONLY FOR FOLDERS LOCATED OUTSIDE LIBRARY. This is the explanaition I wrote in my previous post.
This is the real bug since Windows 10 (was working fine in Windows 7 in fact I think).
Not the "keep the current display as the default one for other same kind of folder" bug, which is... not a bug at all as it works as intended (all my pictures keep the new view if I change it the way you explain, not with the way I explain).

Thanks anyway.

LesFerch · Jan 20, 2024

CodeKiller said:
Wrong.
I am not talking about what you are talking about... (and you are wrong in the bug description also).

English translation of the French capture attached : "Also apply this model (whatever the word you want to use instead of model) to... ALL SUB FOLDERS"
To get here ? Righ click on a folder, Properties, Personalize (right tab don't know the EN name).
Here you have the "box" to tick...
This one DOES NOT WORK FOR LIBRARY AND ONLY FOR FOLDERS LOCATED OUTSIDE LIBRARY. This is the explanaition I wrote in my previous post.
This is the real bug since Windows 10 (was working fine in Windows 7 in fact I think).
Not the "keep the current display as the default one for other same kind of folder" bug, which is... not a bug at all as it works as intended (all my pictures keep the new view if I change it the way you explain, not with the way I explain).

Thanks anyway.

I considered that you may be referring to the "Also apply this template to all subfolders" (since you mentioned a "box"), but you quoted my statement about "Apply to Folders". Hence my confusion. I should have asked for clarification first. :wink:

So, now that I know what you're talking about, there's a simpler point to be made...

The option "Also apply this template to all subfolders" does not work at all in Windows 11 (unless you use the Windows 10 Explorer).

It doesn't matter where the folder is located. The feature is completely broken. I made a video about the issue and have made several Feedback Hub reports. It's still broken for almost two years now and no sign from Microsoft that it will be fixed. The forum owner at answers.microsoft.com told me that the "engineers are aware of the issue" and are "working on a fix", but that was almost a year ago, so who knows.

Also the folder option tab "Customize" is not available for Library folders. Libraries are a special folder type (really just a combined view), so the "Optimize this folder for" option is not applicable. The same is true for "Downloads" except that the option is shown but just doesn't do anything.

Anyhow, I should know what I'm talking about when it comes to folder views in Windows. It goes with the territory of spending hundreds of hours researching, writing and updating a tool to control those views. If you could clarify what you mean by "you are wrong in the bug description also" I'm sure we can sort out any misunderstanding there as well.