Explorer: Make folders stick to the top when sorted by date?

When you sorted files by date in an Explorer window (or a File>Open dialog, etc) in earlier versions of Windows, the folders always stuck to the top.

Is it possible to get Win 11 to use that behavior?

on toolbar>select Sort >
set to Name and Ascending
select Group by >change to None

Levitate11 said:

When you sorted files by date in an Explorer window (or a File>Open dialog, etc) in earlier versions of Windows, the folders always stuck to the top.

Is it possible to get Win 11 to use that behavior?

Click to expand...

Windows 11 is no different in that regard. Shift-click the Name column heading to alternate between folders at top or folders at bottom.

LesFerch said:

Windows 11 is no different in that regard. Shift-click the Name column heading to alternate between folders at top or folders at bottom.

Click to expand...

Interesting. I've never had to do that in any version of Windows... is the default reversed in Win 11?

Levitate11 said:

Interesting. I've never had to do that in any version of Windows... is the default reversed in Win 11?

Click to expand...

No. By default, in both Windows 10 and 11, if you sort by Date modified, ascending, the folders will at the top of the list. If you sort by Date modified, descending, the folders will be a the bottom of the list. Shift-clicking the Name column heading creates a secondary sort on Name which causes the folders to remain at the top, regardless of the Date modified sort being ascending or descending.

AFAIK, there is no option to have the folders always at the end of the list, regardless of an ascending or descending primary sort, so I actually made a somewhat misleading statement above where I said "alternate between folders at top or folders at bottom".

Note: You can clear the secondary sort by changing the primary sort to something else, such as Type, and then clicking back on Date modified. That will reset the order to the default of folders being at the top or bottom depending on the primary sort order.

Fun fact: If you set Name as both a primary and secondary sort, folders will remain at the top of the list regardless of whether the Name sort is ascending or descending. I don't know of any way to accomplish that via the GUI, but you can set it up that way using WinSetView.

Levitate11 said:

When you sorted files by date in an Explorer window (or a File>Open dialog, etc) in earlier versions of Windows, the folders always stuck to the top.

Is it possible to get Win 11 to use that behavior?

Click to expand...

Not sure if this information is useful to you.

In Windows 11 24H2, File Explorer's default sorting behavior may include grouping by date or other criteria, leading to folders appearing interspersed with files, rather than being grouped at the top.

To revert to the traditional "folders at the top" sorting, users can disable grouping and adjust the sort order in the View options.

1. Disable Grouping:

• Open File Explorer: Navigate to the folder where you want to adjust the sorting.
  
  
• Go to View: Click on the "View" tab in the File Explorer ribbon.
  
  
• Find Sort/Group By: Locate the "Sort" or "Group By" options (they might be grouped under the same menu).
• Select (None): Choose "(None)" or "Disable Grouping" from the options to remove any grouping by date, type, or other criteria.
  
  
• Apply to Folders (Optional): To apply this setting to other folders, click on the three dots (...) in the File Explorer ribbon, select "Options," and then click "Apply to Folders" in the "View" tab.

2. Set the Sort Order:

• Open File Explorer: Navigate to the folder where you want to adjust the sorting.
  
  
• Go to View: Click on the "View" tab in the File Explorer ribbon.
  
  
• Sort By: Select "Sort By" from the ribbon.
• Choose "Name": Choose "Name" as the sorting criteria.
  
  
• Choose "Folders First": You can also choose to sort by "Name" in ascending or descending order.
  
  
• Apply to Folders (Optional): You can apply this sorting to all folders by following the steps in step 1, point 4.

Important Notes:

• Some users have reported that resetting File Explorer settings (clicking "Reset Folders" in the View options) might lead to the "Group By" feature being enabled by default, even after resetting.
  
  
• Disabling grouping and setting the sort order might need to be done individually for each folder, or you can apply the settings to all folders using the "Apply to Folders" option.
  
  
• If you continue to experience issues with File Explorer's sorting, you can try restarting File Explorer or even rebooting your computer.

Thanks.