How to make File Explorer NOT auto-arrange

Once you close and re-open the folder it will always be sorted.

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Yup, I know that. I'm saying that Auto-arrange is always on. Period. The folder is open. Staring me in the face. Winsetview is set to XP and Auto-arrange unchecked. I drag a file into the folder. Instead of appending itself to the bottom of the file list (expected behavior if Auto-arrange is off), it immediately auto-inserts itself alphabetically into the middle of the file list as if Winsetview had never been configured. It's as if Winsetview isn't even there--but only re auto-arrange. It's working fine to keep my listview the default folder view everywhere the way I want.

schmibble said:

Yup, I know that. I'm saying that Auto-arrange is always on. Period. The folder is open. Staring me in the face. Winsetview is set to XP and Auto-arrange unchecked. I drag a file into the folder. Instead of appending itself to the bottom of the file list (expected behavior if Auto-arrange is off), it immediately auto-inserts itself alphabetically into the middle of the file list as if Winsetview had never been configured. It's as if Winsetview isn't even there--but only re auto-arrange. It's working fine to keep my listview the default folder view everywhere the way I want.

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I did some testing on Windows Vista and Windows 11. The results matched (other than remembering the arrangement).

Autoarrange only applies to icon views. Whether it's on or off, an item pasted into the window will get inserted via current sort order. It doesn't add to the end even on Vista. An item dragged should go to the location you drop it and autoarrange is off. If that's not happening, your results vary from mine.

If it was adding to the end before it’s because FE was not auto refreshing upon move completion.

dacrone, that's exactly the behavior I want. I don't care about rearranging files and having them stay that way; I just don't want Windows to automatically arrange them when I drag them in the first time or when I rename a file. There are lots of times when that behavior screws up file-management operations.

Les, I've just realized that the terminological wires got crossed here because for Windows 7 & 10 I used a third-party file manager, Explorer++, and it has a setting called "Auto Arrange". If you uncheck that, it stops Windows from doing any sort of automatic refreshing as well as arranging. I never tried to use it for permanent file arrangement in folders, so I don't know how well it worked for that. But it sure worked great to stop automatic refreshing. I still use my Win7 machine for some things (don't worry, I don't go online with it) and the non-refresh behavior under Explorer++ remains solid as a rock. So I have assumed for a long time that what dacrone calls "auto refreshing" is part of the whole auto-arrange "feature". (Which I obviously consider more of a bug.)

It looks like I'll have to go back to using Explorer++ for Windows 11 too. *Sigh*. Winsetview looked like it was going to solve all the relevant problems without me needing to resort to a third-party manager. The problem with Explorer++ is that it has one particular quirk that I have to assume is a feature because it's been an issue from its earliest days, and it's really annoying. Ironically, it's the same sort of folder-related issue as auto-refresh; if you accidentally double-click somewhere in a folder's white space (not on a file or subfolder) Explorer++ kicks you up a folder, just as if you had pressed the Back button. Such accidental double-clicks happen a lot more often than you'd think. There's no way to turn it off, either.

Early last summer when I was first switching to 11, I evaluated and rejected Cairo Desktop, Explorer Patcher, and OneCommander for various reasons, but the overriding one is that all of them do too much. I just want a File-explorer-ish functionality that doesn't effing auto-refresh. I can press F5 when I'm good and ready, thank you very much. Explorer++ gives me exactly what I want, but I was hoping real bad to get away from its damned double-click auto-navigate-backward "feature". Unhappily, Windows auto-refresh is even worse. So Hi Ho, Hi Ho, it's back to there I go...

@LesFerch


Added here, under "Tweaking Tools"...

schmibble said:

that's exactly the behavior I want

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you can try adding:

HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer

New > DWORD > NoRefresh
value = 1

dacrone said:

you can try adding:

HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer

New > DWORD > NoRefresh
value = 1

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Didn't make any difference for me. Did it work for you?

LesFerch said:

Didn't make any difference for me. Did it work for you?

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Nope. No difference for me either.

Many thanks. Unfortunately didn't work. (Rebooted system just to make sure.) So I'm using Explorer++ again. At least its auto-refresh prevention is as solid as ever, even in the ever-evolving Windows 11 horror movie.

schmibble said:

Many thanks. Unfortunately didn't work. (Rebooted system just to make sure.) So I'm using Explorer++ again. At least its auto-refresh prevention is as solid as ever, even in the ever-evolving Windows 11 horror movie.

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If you really want, I can make an ahk script that will run in the system tray and prevent file explorer from auto refreshing when new files are detected. Wouldn’t be hard…

Nice of you to offer, but it would also have to prevent auto-refresh for subfolders I would also drag in; and would need to prevent auto-refresh from happening after any folders/files are renamed as well. So might be more difficult than you thought.

But I've got a strong incentive to be selfish in this matter. Explorer++ has another flaw I didn't mention that I wouldn't mind avoiding too: under heavy workloads, it tends to have memory leaks that won't let a file or folder go even after you close that file or folder, so when you then attempt to rename it, you can't. When that happens, you have to close all your windows, thus losing your entire workflow setup. It's a real PITA. Since Explorer++ has only been on my Win11 system for a couple of days I haven't put it under a sufficient load yet to see if the new 2024 version still has this problem, but it's been there since ca. 2012 all the way up to the previous major update around 2018 or 2020, so I suspect it's still there.

Therefore, if you can add folder and anti-rename-refresh functionality, I'd be a happy camper. I could just have it start up with the system and woohoo!

EDIT: OK, I have just now confirmed that Explorer++ retains the second problem (memory leakage), this one a genuine bug, and I would certainly be most grateful for that autohotkeys solution if it's not too much trouble. If it is, I understand.

dacrone said:

If you really want, I can make an ahk script that will run in the system tray and prevent file explorer from auto refreshing when new files are detected. Wouldn’t be hard…

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I'm curious. How would that work?

LesFerch said:

I'm curious. How would that work?

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Still working on it. Looking into “freezing” the sort by without DLL injecting

So far i can replicate the behavior OP wants via:

copying a file from a usb to an external hdd. it places it at the bottom of the files (Details View; sorted by Name; grouped by none) UNTIL i refresh the folder.. then it falls in order with the rest. so it is possible.. just have to figure out how to always make it replicate those circumstances. i have a few ideas i'll play with and post back with the results.

EDIT: figured out how (at least one method).
@LesFerch i DM'd you the details

dacrone said:

i have a few ideas i'll play with and post back with the results.

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Hey folks, very grateful for this attempt, but should I assume that the effort didn't pan out and I should get used to Explorer++ on Win11?

schmibble said:

Hey folks, very grateful for this attempt, but should I assume that the effort didn't pan out and I should get used to Explorer++ on Win11?

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well i made it work, but the thing is that you'd have to map your user profile folder as an 'external drive'. not as crazy as it sounds. it can all be done via a command prompt window, that, when closed, will 'disconnect' the 'drive'.

so, for an example, you can map your "schmibble" user profile folder as drive E:\
your folder will still be accessible in the C:\ path too, but when you save files, etc.. save them to the E:\ variant of those folders and you will see the behavior that you are wanting. when you're done, just close the command prompt window and it (E:\) will disappear...

if this is something that you want to try out, i can provide the step by step. if not, no worries. (it will only take you about 10 mins to figure it out and less than 30 seconds to do once you understand the process).

Interesting. If all it does is affect the Windows default user folders (my docs, pictures, etc), then unfortunately no, as I never use those. I have a nicely organized data setup on my second drive, completely outside the Windows schema . This video commentary sums it up nicely, although I had reached those conclusions long before he recorded his episode.

If the remap encompasses the whole machine and will allow me to work in any location once I've opened it through the "entry" folder, then it depends on whether it's fire-and-forget, do it once and never worry about it again--and whether it grandfathers in whatever new physical drives there are (I have two hard disks in the machine). I'd want to just do it once and thenceforth worry only about opening my newly designated user dir, after which everything else should simply happen.

1) you can choose any dir, thus choosing C:\ or whatever letter would handle all subs

2) you can make it a scheduled task to run at logon and be headless conhost so it’s not visible