Win 11 File Explorer Group By Issue


BudW

Member
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7
Location
CP, OR, 97502
OS
Windows 11
Hello All,
Win 11 Pro V. 22H2, Build 22621.963.
The group by
I found the Explorer Window Sort>Group By (None) option. Then the ...>Options>View Tab>Apply to Folders>match this folder's view settings.
This got me a long way to eliminate the Very Annoying Group by Date Created listing and have the files listed by name alone in descending or ascending order as I want.
However, I can't seem to find out how to apply the same settings to a file download, save as, or select file, dialogue window when invoked.
This is so annoying that I consider it one of Microsoft's worst decision to force it on us as default rather than allow those that want it to enable it.

While I'm at it the Alt>Tab change from last viewed window to some listing that makes no sense to me at all forcing multiple Alt>Tab>Tab>Tab... hits to go between last 2 viewed of multiple windows instead of the old function of Alt>Tab between two last used windows. Why do the mess these thing up for no reason?
 
Windows Build/Version
Win 11 Pro V. 22H2, Build 22621.963.

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell XPS 15, 9570
    CPU
    I7-8750H
    Motherboard
    Dell 02MJVY
    Memory
    32 GB PC4-21300 DDR4 SDRAM
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050Ti
    Sound Card
    Intel Cannon Lake-HS - cAVS 8086
    Monitor(s) Displays
    391-BDSZ : 15.6" 4K Ultra HD
    Screen Resolution
    3840 x 2160
    Hard Drives
    Samsung 970 EVO Plus, 2TB
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    450-AHFL : 130W Power Adapter
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    Logitech M325
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MS have made the "Downloads" folder un-useable since their implement of "group by" that cant be turned off long term or at instances like the save as dialog.

My workaround is to use a standard folder named "Downloads" and use that, and have a link to that folder in windows' Downloads folder for easy navigation.

I haven't seen as workable solution to disable the "group by" sorting in the Downloads folder that is bullet proof.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    windows 11
I found the Explorer Window Sort>Group By (None) option. Then the ...>Options>View Tab>Apply to Folders>match this folder's view settings.
This got me a long way to eliminate the Very Annoying Group by Date Created listing and have the files listed by name alone in descending or ascending order as I want.
However, I can't seem to find out how to apply the same settings to a file download, save as, or select file, dialogue window when invoked.
This is so annoying that I consider it one of Microsoft's worst decision to force it on us as default rather than allow those that want it to enable it.

Hey, @BudW and welcome to the forums!

When you get a download, don't click on any item in the folder, but right click in the folder (not on a group heading) and you should get this:

Screenshot 2022-12-23 092000.png

Notice that the placement looks like I was right clicking on that HoeKey .ZIP, but it is not actually selected - that is how you edit the properties of the download to folder window.


While I'm at it the Alt>Tab change from last viewed window to some listing that makes no sense to me at all forcing multiple Alt>Tab>Tab>Tab... hits to go between last 2 viewed of multiple windows instead of the old function of Alt>Tab between two last used windows. Why do the mess these thing up for no reason?

Mine works like this and always has. Check your Alt + Tab settings in Windows Settings --> Multitasking. I've removed any instances of Edge so it only shows my apps.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11 23H2 Current build
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    HomeBrew
    CPU
    AMD Ryzen 9 3950X
    Motherboard
    MSI MEG X570 GODLIKE
    Memory
    4 * 32 GB - Corsair Vengeance 3600 MHz
    Graphics Card(s)
    EVGA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti XC3 ULTRA GAMING (12G-P5-3955-KR)
    Sound Card
    Realtek® ALC1220 Codec
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2x Eve Spectrum ES07D03 4K Gaming Monitor (Matte) | Eve Spectrum ES07DC9 4K Gaming Monitor (Glossy)
    Screen Resolution
    3x 3840 x 2160
    Hard Drives
    3x Samsung 980 Pro NVMe PCIe 4 M.2 2 TB SSD (MZ-V8P2T0B/AM) } 3x Sabrent Rocket NVMe 4.0 1 TB SSD (USB)
    PSU
    PC Power & Cooling’s Silencer Series 1050 Watt, 80 Plus Platinum
    Case
    Fractal Design Define 7 XL Dark ATX Full Tower Case
    Cooling
    NZXT KRAKEN Z73 73.11 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler (3x 120 mm push top) + Air 3x 140mm case fans (pull front) + 1x 120 mm (push back) and 1 x 120 mm (pull bottom)
    Keyboard
    SteelSeries Apex Pro Wired Gaming Keyboard
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3S | MX Master 3 for Business
    Internet Speed
    AT&T LightSpeed Gigabit Duplex Ftth
    Browser
    Nightly (default) + Firefox (stable), Chrome, Edge
    Antivirus
    Defender + MB 5 Beta
  • Operating System
    ChromeOS Flex Dev Channel (current)
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Latitude E5470
    CPU
    Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-6300U CPU @ 2.40GHz, 2501 Mhz, 2 Core(s), 4 Logical Processor(s)
    Motherboard
    Dell
    Memory
    16 GB
    Graphics card(s)
    Intel(R) HD Graphics 520
    Sound Card
    Intel(R) HD Graphics 520 + RealTek Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dell laptop display 15"
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    1920 * 1080
    Hard Drives
    Toshiba 128GB M.2 22300 drive
    INTEL Cherryville 520 Series SSDSC2CW180A 180 GB SATA III SSD
    PSU
    Dell
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    Dell
    Cooling
    Dell
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3S (shared w. Sys 1) | Dell TouchPad
    Keyboard
    Dell
    Internet Speed
    AT&T LightSpeed Gigabit Duplex Ftth
johnlgalt,
Bravo Sir. That worked a charm for multiple test instances of a download dialogue. I was right clicking all over the dialogue except in a blank spot when a dropdown button wasn't shown I guess. I'll try it on the Save As and Select File dialogues next.

My, System>Multitasking window shows, "Show Microsoft Edge tabs when snapping or pressing Alt + Tab" as "Don't show tabs" selected.
I'm not sure I explained it correctly. In past Win , Versions, If I had 4 windows, or usually more, open and I was working, for instance on window 1 then I switch and go to work on window 3, an Alt + Tab on window 3 used to return to window 1 every time if it was the last one I used.
Now it returns to some other order of the displayed panes of open windows and the next one isn't window 1, the last one I used, in most cases.
Used to be great now totally annoying.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell XPS 15, 9570
    CPU
    I7-8750H
    Motherboard
    Dell 02MJVY
    Memory
    32 GB PC4-21300 DDR4 SDRAM
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050Ti
    Sound Card
    Intel Cannon Lake-HS - cAVS 8086
    Monitor(s) Displays
    391-BDSZ : 15.6" 4K Ultra HD
    Screen Resolution
    3840 x 2160
    Hard Drives
    Samsung 970 EVO Plus, 2TB
    PSU
    450-AHFL : 130W Power Adapter
    Case
    NA
    Keyboard
    Dell Backlight QWERTY Standard
    Mouse
    Logitech M325
    Browser
    Chrome
OK, one issue down :-)

I use Alt + Tab a lot, and it seems to always takes me back to the previous window. If it has not, I've not really noticed, as I probably just continue to hit Alt + Tab until I'm at the right window.

However, I wonder if it breaks if you close the window that you're on, or else manually minimize the window, or something? Since you have Edge Tabs turned off like I do, the behavior should be similar. What sorts of apps are we talking about swapping between?
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11 23H2 Current build
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    HomeBrew
    CPU
    AMD Ryzen 9 3950X
    Motherboard
    MSI MEG X570 GODLIKE
    Memory
    4 * 32 GB - Corsair Vengeance 3600 MHz
    Graphics Card(s)
    EVGA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti XC3 ULTRA GAMING (12G-P5-3955-KR)
    Sound Card
    Realtek® ALC1220 Codec
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2x Eve Spectrum ES07D03 4K Gaming Monitor (Matte) | Eve Spectrum ES07DC9 4K Gaming Monitor (Glossy)
    Screen Resolution
    3x 3840 x 2160
    Hard Drives
    3x Samsung 980 Pro NVMe PCIe 4 M.2 2 TB SSD (MZ-V8P2T0B/AM) } 3x Sabrent Rocket NVMe 4.0 1 TB SSD (USB)
    PSU
    PC Power & Cooling’s Silencer Series 1050 Watt, 80 Plus Platinum
    Case
    Fractal Design Define 7 XL Dark ATX Full Tower Case
    Cooling
    NZXT KRAKEN Z73 73.11 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler (3x 120 mm push top) + Air 3x 140mm case fans (pull front) + 1x 120 mm (push back) and 1 x 120 mm (pull bottom)
    Keyboard
    SteelSeries Apex Pro Wired Gaming Keyboard
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3S | MX Master 3 for Business
    Internet Speed
    AT&T LightSpeed Gigabit Duplex Ftth
    Browser
    Nightly (default) + Firefox (stable), Chrome, Edge
    Antivirus
    Defender + MB 5 Beta
  • Operating System
    ChromeOS Flex Dev Channel (current)
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Latitude E5470
    CPU
    Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-6300U CPU @ 2.40GHz, 2501 Mhz, 2 Core(s), 4 Logical Processor(s)
    Motherboard
    Dell
    Memory
    16 GB
    Graphics card(s)
    Intel(R) HD Graphics 520
    Sound Card
    Intel(R) HD Graphics 520 + RealTek Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dell laptop display 15"
    Screen Resolution
    1920 * 1080
    Hard Drives
    Toshiba 128GB M.2 22300 drive
    INTEL Cherryville 520 Series SSDSC2CW180A 180 GB SATA III SSD
    PSU
    Dell
    Case
    Dell
    Cooling
    Dell
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3S (shared w. Sys 1) | Dell TouchPad
    Keyboard
    Dell
    Internet Speed
    AT&T LightSpeed Gigabit Duplex Ftth
OK, one issue down :-)

I use Alt + Tab a lot, and it seems to always takes me back to the previous window. If it has not, I've not really noticed, as I probably just continue to hit Alt + Tab until I'm at the right window.

However, I wonder if it breaks if you close the window that you're on, or else manually minimize the window, or something? Since you have Edge Tabs turned off like I do, the behavior should be similar. What sorts of apps are we talking about swapping between?
Hi John,
Thanks for your interest in this other Win 11 annoying issue for me. Win 10 did not display this oddity no matter how many windows I had open.
I just did a recreation with my common workflow of windows open.
2 or more=Excel *.xslm workbooks, 1= Outlook email window, 1=Chrome browser window, 1= Windows Media Player window, 2 or more= Windows File explorer windows.
Typically I will be Alt > Tab'ing between 2 of the Excel Workbooks or 2 of the File Explorer windows. This happens if I am using the main laptop monitor alone or with a 1 or 2 additional monitor scheme.
I have attached a screenshot of Alt>Tab when switching between 2 Excel xlsm workbooks showing them both last in the select order, causing multiple Alt>Tab>Tab>Tab.... operations. I was Alt>Tab Switching between both of them multiple times and they both should have occupied the first two left upper row positions. indicating the one I'm switching to and the one that I'm switching from as those first two spots. They were not BTW the last 2 windows opened. In this example an Alt>Tab will and does open the highlighted File Explorer window. This is annoying when attempting rapid window back and forth switching when multitasking and not how Win 10 worked for me.
Win11 Alt-Tab Action.jpg
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell XPS 15, 9570
    CPU
    I7-8750H
    Motherboard
    Dell 02MJVY
    Memory
    32 GB PC4-21300 DDR4 SDRAM
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050Ti
    Sound Card
    Intel Cannon Lake-HS - cAVS 8086
    Monitor(s) Displays
    391-BDSZ : 15.6" 4K Ultra HD
    Screen Resolution
    3840 x 2160
    Hard Drives
    Samsung 970 EVO Plus, 2TB
    PSU
    450-AHFL : 130W Power Adapter
    Case
    NA
    Keyboard
    Dell Backlight QWERTY Standard
    Mouse
    Logitech M325
    Browser
    Chrome
Excel. With Autosave enabled, to your OneDrive account?

Do you have your OneDrive account set to always keeps files on the HD, or only as you use them?
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11 23H2 Current build
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    HomeBrew
    CPU
    AMD Ryzen 9 3950X
    Motherboard
    MSI MEG X570 GODLIKE
    Memory
    4 * 32 GB - Corsair Vengeance 3600 MHz
    Graphics Card(s)
    EVGA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti XC3 ULTRA GAMING (12G-P5-3955-KR)
    Sound Card
    Realtek® ALC1220 Codec
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2x Eve Spectrum ES07D03 4K Gaming Monitor (Matte) | Eve Spectrum ES07DC9 4K Gaming Monitor (Glossy)
    Screen Resolution
    3x 3840 x 2160
    Hard Drives
    3x Samsung 980 Pro NVMe PCIe 4 M.2 2 TB SSD (MZ-V8P2T0B/AM) } 3x Sabrent Rocket NVMe 4.0 1 TB SSD (USB)
    PSU
    PC Power & Cooling’s Silencer Series 1050 Watt, 80 Plus Platinum
    Case
    Fractal Design Define 7 XL Dark ATX Full Tower Case
    Cooling
    NZXT KRAKEN Z73 73.11 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler (3x 120 mm push top) + Air 3x 140mm case fans (pull front) + 1x 120 mm (push back) and 1 x 120 mm (pull bottom)
    Keyboard
    SteelSeries Apex Pro Wired Gaming Keyboard
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3S | MX Master 3 for Business
    Internet Speed
    AT&T LightSpeed Gigabit Duplex Ftth
    Browser
    Nightly (default) + Firefox (stable), Chrome, Edge
    Antivirus
    Defender + MB 5 Beta
  • Operating System
    ChromeOS Flex Dev Channel (current)
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Latitude E5470
    CPU
    Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-6300U CPU @ 2.40GHz, 2501 Mhz, 2 Core(s), 4 Logical Processor(s)
    Motherboard
    Dell
    Memory
    16 GB
    Graphics card(s)
    Intel(R) HD Graphics 520
    Sound Card
    Intel(R) HD Graphics 520 + RealTek Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dell laptop display 15"
    Screen Resolution
    1920 * 1080
    Hard Drives
    Toshiba 128GB M.2 22300 drive
    INTEL Cherryville 520 Series SSDSC2CW180A 180 GB SATA III SSD
    PSU
    Dell
    Case
    Dell
    Cooling
    Dell
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3S (shared w. Sys 1) | Dell TouchPad
    Keyboard
    Dell
    Internet Speed
    AT&T LightSpeed Gigabit Duplex Ftth
Excel. With Autosave enabled, to your OneDrive account?

Do you have your OneDrive account set to always keeps files on the HD, or only as you use them?
Hi John,
While I do have a OneDrive account, nothing is autosaved there at all. I log into my computer with a password and/or a fingerprint and avoid logging in with my MS account to the computer.
Typically, for our team structure, the Excel Workbooks are stored in a Dropbox folder with multiple shares. They can be accessed through an explorer window locally or on-line through a browser. They are not worked on by more than one person at a time, Dropbox is not good at live collaboration, to avoid conflicting copies in Dropbox. Dropbox does show if the file you opened is being edited and by whom so you can view and close without saving changes. Autosave is never used on anyone's share device.for that reason as well.
Again, this behavior has only become evident since I migrated to Win 11. My other structures of storage and saving files has not changed since I was on Win 7. I skipped from Win 7 to Win 10 then Win 11 as they became available. I have suffered with this Alt>Tab condition since the migration to Win 11 nearly a year ago. I got used to it but wish it worked like it did in Win 10.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell XPS 15, 9570
    CPU
    I7-8750H
    Motherboard
    Dell 02MJVY
    Memory
    32 GB PC4-21300 DDR4 SDRAM
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050Ti
    Sound Card
    Intel Cannon Lake-HS - cAVS 8086
    Monitor(s) Displays
    391-BDSZ : 15.6" 4K Ultra HD
    Screen Resolution
    3840 x 2160
    Hard Drives
    Samsung 970 EVO Plus, 2TB
    PSU
    450-AHFL : 130W Power Adapter
    Case
    NA
    Keyboard
    Dell Backlight QWERTY Standard
    Mouse
    Logitech M325
    Browser
    Chrome
I was playing around with a fresh clean install from Boxing Day, and it randomly happened to me - once. Then when I tried to recreate it , for the next 100+ iterations, it was always going back to the last app used, with Firefox Stable, Firefox Nightly, 2 different Excel Sheets open, Outlook, and Teams. IIRC, it was when I went to swap from one Fireofx to another that all of a sudden one of them was at the end of the list, not at the front of the list, because I had just swapped from it.

I'm sure this has happened to me in the past, now that I think about it more carefully, but it does not happen with any regularity, so my thinking has been something weird happened and I move on. Typically, if it happens, it happens maybe once a week or even less frequently, and I use Alt + Tab vigorously every day, as I work from home, so have apps both on my personal (virtual) desktop and on my work (virtual) desktop. So I naturally have a lot of apps open.

But, again, 99% of the time it behaves as expected, and as you want it to.

If I can see what might be triggering the failure, I'll post back.

At least you know it is not just your system, though.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11 23H2 Current build
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    HomeBrew
    CPU
    AMD Ryzen 9 3950X
    Motherboard
    MSI MEG X570 GODLIKE
    Memory
    4 * 32 GB - Corsair Vengeance 3600 MHz
    Graphics Card(s)
    EVGA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti XC3 ULTRA GAMING (12G-P5-3955-KR)
    Sound Card
    Realtek® ALC1220 Codec
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2x Eve Spectrum ES07D03 4K Gaming Monitor (Matte) | Eve Spectrum ES07DC9 4K Gaming Monitor (Glossy)
    Screen Resolution
    3x 3840 x 2160
    Hard Drives
    3x Samsung 980 Pro NVMe PCIe 4 M.2 2 TB SSD (MZ-V8P2T0B/AM) } 3x Sabrent Rocket NVMe 4.0 1 TB SSD (USB)
    PSU
    PC Power & Cooling’s Silencer Series 1050 Watt, 80 Plus Platinum
    Case
    Fractal Design Define 7 XL Dark ATX Full Tower Case
    Cooling
    NZXT KRAKEN Z73 73.11 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler (3x 120 mm push top) + Air 3x 140mm case fans (pull front) + 1x 120 mm (push back) and 1 x 120 mm (pull bottom)
    Keyboard
    SteelSeries Apex Pro Wired Gaming Keyboard
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3S | MX Master 3 for Business
    Internet Speed
    AT&T LightSpeed Gigabit Duplex Ftth
    Browser
    Nightly (default) + Firefox (stable), Chrome, Edge
    Antivirus
    Defender + MB 5 Beta
  • Operating System
    ChromeOS Flex Dev Channel (current)
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Latitude E5470
    CPU
    Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-6300U CPU @ 2.40GHz, 2501 Mhz, 2 Core(s), 4 Logical Processor(s)
    Motherboard
    Dell
    Memory
    16 GB
    Graphics card(s)
    Intel(R) HD Graphics 520
    Sound Card
    Intel(R) HD Graphics 520 + RealTek Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dell laptop display 15"
    Screen Resolution
    1920 * 1080
    Hard Drives
    Toshiba 128GB M.2 22300 drive
    INTEL Cherryville 520 Series SSDSC2CW180A 180 GB SATA III SSD
    PSU
    Dell
    Case
    Dell
    Cooling
    Dell
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3S (shared w. Sys 1) | Dell TouchPad
    Keyboard
    Dell
    Internet Speed
    AT&T LightSpeed Gigabit Duplex Ftth
...........

But, again, 99% of the time it behaves as expected, and as you want it to.

If I can see what might be triggering the failure, I'll post back.

At least you know it is not just your system, though.
John,
I do appreciate your interest.
If I had a 99% success rate, I would probably just chalk it up to a rare glitch in the matrix as well. I have a 99.99% Failure rate so it is an annoying trait. I used to use Alt>Tab vigorously as well but find it so annoying, I will hover my mouse over excel in the taskbar and select the window I want about 50% of the time now. Slows down the multitasking, but less so than multiple Alt>Tab failures.
I would appreciate if you do post back should you find an issue. I might experiment with where I open the excel files from, like open two of them from a completely local source rather than the synced DropBox folder.
Thanks and Happy New Year.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell XPS 15, 9570
    CPU
    I7-8750H
    Motherboard
    Dell 02MJVY
    Memory
    32 GB PC4-21300 DDR4 SDRAM
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050Ti
    Sound Card
    Intel Cannon Lake-HS - cAVS 8086
    Monitor(s) Displays
    391-BDSZ : 15.6" 4K Ultra HD
    Screen Resolution
    3840 x 2160
    Hard Drives
    Samsung 970 EVO Plus, 2TB
    PSU
    450-AHFL : 130W Power Adapter
    Case
    NA
    Keyboard
    Dell Backlight QWERTY Standard
    Mouse
    Logitech M325
    Browser
    Chrome
John,
I do appreciate your interest.
If I had a 99% success rate, I would probably just chalk it up to a rare glitch in the matrix as well. I have a 99.99% Failure rate so it is an annoying trait. I used to use Alt>Tab vigorously as well but find it so annoying, I will hover my mouse over excel in the taskbar and select the window I want about 50% of the time now. Slows down the multitasking, but less so than multiple Alt>Tab failures.
I would appreciate if you do post back should you find an issue. I might experiment with where I open the excel files from, like open two of them from a completely local source rather than the synced DropBox folder.
Thanks and Happy New Year.

While our use cases are not very similar, in that my company uses SharePoint / OneDrive, and does allow for multi-user editing (I had to specifically enable that one, as for a small organization we have lots and lots of co-editing requirements lol), we do have a stock DB account that we use to share items with the public every now and again. I can test from our DB repository to more closely mimic your scenario and see if that may be a root cause of the issue.

As for looking into it - no worries, knowing how and why this occurs will be of use to me in the future to help someone else, so I get some personal benefit out of it too, not just the altruism of helping someone out.

And thanks, and the same to you - Happy New Year's to you and yours!
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11 23H2 Current build
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    HomeBrew
    CPU
    AMD Ryzen 9 3950X
    Motherboard
    MSI MEG X570 GODLIKE
    Memory
    4 * 32 GB - Corsair Vengeance 3600 MHz
    Graphics Card(s)
    EVGA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti XC3 ULTRA GAMING (12G-P5-3955-KR)
    Sound Card
    Realtek® ALC1220 Codec
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2x Eve Spectrum ES07D03 4K Gaming Monitor (Matte) | Eve Spectrum ES07DC9 4K Gaming Monitor (Glossy)
    Screen Resolution
    3x 3840 x 2160
    Hard Drives
    3x Samsung 980 Pro NVMe PCIe 4 M.2 2 TB SSD (MZ-V8P2T0B/AM) } 3x Sabrent Rocket NVMe 4.0 1 TB SSD (USB)
    PSU
    PC Power & Cooling’s Silencer Series 1050 Watt, 80 Plus Platinum
    Case
    Fractal Design Define 7 XL Dark ATX Full Tower Case
    Cooling
    NZXT KRAKEN Z73 73.11 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler (3x 120 mm push top) + Air 3x 140mm case fans (pull front) + 1x 120 mm (push back) and 1 x 120 mm (pull bottom)
    Keyboard
    SteelSeries Apex Pro Wired Gaming Keyboard
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3S | MX Master 3 for Business
    Internet Speed
    AT&T LightSpeed Gigabit Duplex Ftth
    Browser
    Nightly (default) + Firefox (stable), Chrome, Edge
    Antivirus
    Defender + MB 5 Beta
  • Operating System
    ChromeOS Flex Dev Channel (current)
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Latitude E5470
    CPU
    Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-6300U CPU @ 2.40GHz, 2501 Mhz, 2 Core(s), 4 Logical Processor(s)
    Motherboard
    Dell
    Memory
    16 GB
    Graphics card(s)
    Intel(R) HD Graphics 520
    Sound Card
    Intel(R) HD Graphics 520 + RealTek Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dell laptop display 15"
    Screen Resolution
    1920 * 1080
    Hard Drives
    Toshiba 128GB M.2 22300 drive
    INTEL Cherryville 520 Series SSDSC2CW180A 180 GB SATA III SSD
    PSU
    Dell
    Case
    Dell
    Cooling
    Dell
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3S (shared w. Sys 1) | Dell TouchPad
    Keyboard
    Dell
    Internet Speed
    AT&T LightSpeed Gigabit Duplex Ftth
While our use cases are not very similar, in that my company uses SharePoint / OneDrive, and does allow for multi-user editing (I had to specifically enable that one, as for a small organization we have lots and lots of co-editing requirements lol), we do have a stock DB account that we use to share items with the public every now and again. I can test from our DB repository to more closely mimic your scenario and see if that may be a root cause of the issue.

As for looking into it - no worries, knowing how and why this occurs will be of use to me in the future to help someone else, so I get some personal benefit out of it too, not just the altruism of helping someone out.

And thanks, and the same to you - Happy New Year's to you and yours!
Running multiple instances of File explorer, Outlook email and two *.xlsm files from a local folder that have never been in any cloud folder, I get the same result. It does seem the Excel files are usually pushed to the end of the Alt>Tab list, regardless of when they are opened.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell XPS 15, 9570
    CPU
    I7-8750H
    Motherboard
    Dell 02MJVY
    Memory
    32 GB PC4-21300 DDR4 SDRAM
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050Ti
    Sound Card
    Intel Cannon Lake-HS - cAVS 8086
    Monitor(s) Displays
    391-BDSZ : 15.6" 4K Ultra HD
    Screen Resolution
    3840 x 2160
    Hard Drives
    Samsung 970 EVO Plus, 2TB
    PSU
    450-AHFL : 130W Power Adapter
    Case
    NA
    Keyboard
    Dell Backlight QWERTY Standard
    Mouse
    Logitech M325
    Browser
    Chrome
Is autosave enabled on Excel? Mine is.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11 23H2 Current build
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    HomeBrew
    CPU
    AMD Ryzen 9 3950X
    Motherboard
    MSI MEG X570 GODLIKE
    Memory
    4 * 32 GB - Corsair Vengeance 3600 MHz
    Graphics Card(s)
    EVGA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti XC3 ULTRA GAMING (12G-P5-3955-KR)
    Sound Card
    Realtek® ALC1220 Codec
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2x Eve Spectrum ES07D03 4K Gaming Monitor (Matte) | Eve Spectrum ES07DC9 4K Gaming Monitor (Glossy)
    Screen Resolution
    3x 3840 x 2160
    Hard Drives
    3x Samsung 980 Pro NVMe PCIe 4 M.2 2 TB SSD (MZ-V8P2T0B/AM) } 3x Sabrent Rocket NVMe 4.0 1 TB SSD (USB)
    PSU
    PC Power & Cooling’s Silencer Series 1050 Watt, 80 Plus Platinum
    Case
    Fractal Design Define 7 XL Dark ATX Full Tower Case
    Cooling
    NZXT KRAKEN Z73 73.11 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler (3x 120 mm push top) + Air 3x 140mm case fans (pull front) + 1x 120 mm (push back) and 1 x 120 mm (pull bottom)
    Keyboard
    SteelSeries Apex Pro Wired Gaming Keyboard
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3S | MX Master 3 for Business
    Internet Speed
    AT&T LightSpeed Gigabit Duplex Ftth
    Browser
    Nightly (default) + Firefox (stable), Chrome, Edge
    Antivirus
    Defender + MB 5 Beta
  • Operating System
    ChromeOS Flex Dev Channel (current)
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Latitude E5470
    CPU
    Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-6300U CPU @ 2.40GHz, 2501 Mhz, 2 Core(s), 4 Logical Processor(s)
    Motherboard
    Dell
    Memory
    16 GB
    Graphics card(s)
    Intel(R) HD Graphics 520
    Sound Card
    Intel(R) HD Graphics 520 + RealTek Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dell laptop display 15"
    Screen Resolution
    1920 * 1080
    Hard Drives
    Toshiba 128GB M.2 22300 drive
    INTEL Cherryville 520 Series SSDSC2CW180A 180 GB SATA III SSD
    PSU
    Dell
    Case
    Dell
    Cooling
    Dell
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3S (shared w. Sys 1) | Dell TouchPad
    Keyboard
    Dell
    Internet Speed
    AT&T LightSpeed Gigabit Duplex Ftth

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell XPS 15, 9570
    CPU
    I7-8750H
    Motherboard
    Dell 02MJVY
    Memory
    32 GB PC4-21300 DDR4 SDRAM
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050Ti
    Sound Card
    Intel Cannon Lake-HS - cAVS 8086
    Monitor(s) Displays
    391-BDSZ : 15.6" 4K Ultra HD
    Screen Resolution
    3840 x 2160
    Hard Drives
    Samsung 970 EVO Plus, 2TB
    PSU
    450-AHFL : 130W Power Adapter
    Case
    NA
    Keyboard
    Dell Backlight QWERTY Standard
    Mouse
    Logitech M325
    Browser
    Chrome
OK, another thing to check then.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11 23H2 Current build
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    HomeBrew
    CPU
    AMD Ryzen 9 3950X
    Motherboard
    MSI MEG X570 GODLIKE
    Memory
    4 * 32 GB - Corsair Vengeance 3600 MHz
    Graphics Card(s)
    EVGA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti XC3 ULTRA GAMING (12G-P5-3955-KR)
    Sound Card
    Realtek® ALC1220 Codec
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2x Eve Spectrum ES07D03 4K Gaming Monitor (Matte) | Eve Spectrum ES07DC9 4K Gaming Monitor (Glossy)
    Screen Resolution
    3x 3840 x 2160
    Hard Drives
    3x Samsung 980 Pro NVMe PCIe 4 M.2 2 TB SSD (MZ-V8P2T0B/AM) } 3x Sabrent Rocket NVMe 4.0 1 TB SSD (USB)
    PSU
    PC Power & Cooling’s Silencer Series 1050 Watt, 80 Plus Platinum
    Case
    Fractal Design Define 7 XL Dark ATX Full Tower Case
    Cooling
    NZXT KRAKEN Z73 73.11 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler (3x 120 mm push top) + Air 3x 140mm case fans (pull front) + 1x 120 mm (push back) and 1 x 120 mm (pull bottom)
    Keyboard
    SteelSeries Apex Pro Wired Gaming Keyboard
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3S | MX Master 3 for Business
    Internet Speed
    AT&T LightSpeed Gigabit Duplex Ftth
    Browser
    Nightly (default) + Firefox (stable), Chrome, Edge
    Antivirus
    Defender + MB 5 Beta
  • Operating System
    ChromeOS Flex Dev Channel (current)
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Latitude E5470
    CPU
    Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-6300U CPU @ 2.40GHz, 2501 Mhz, 2 Core(s), 4 Logical Processor(s)
    Motherboard
    Dell
    Memory
    16 GB
    Graphics card(s)
    Intel(R) HD Graphics 520
    Sound Card
    Intel(R) HD Graphics 520 + RealTek Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dell laptop display 15"
    Screen Resolution
    1920 * 1080
    Hard Drives
    Toshiba 128GB M.2 22300 drive
    INTEL Cherryville 520 Series SSDSC2CW180A 180 GB SATA III SSD
    PSU
    Dell
    Case
    Dell
    Cooling
    Dell
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3S (shared w. Sys 1) | Dell TouchPad
    Keyboard
    Dell
    Internet Speed
    AT&T LightSpeed Gigabit Duplex Ftth
Hello All,
Win 11 Pro V. 22H2, Build 22621.963.
The group by
I found the Explorer Window Sort>Group By (None) option. Then the ...>Options>View Tab>Apply to Folders>match this folder's view settings.
This got me a long way to eliminate the Very Annoying Group by Date Created listing and have the files listed by name alone in descending or ascending order as I want.
However, I can't seem to find out how to apply the same settings to a file download, save as, or select file, dialogue window when invoked.
This is so annoying that I consider it one of Microsoft's worst decision to force it on us as default rather than allow those that want it to enable it.
It's a known issue with Windows 7 through 11 that the "Apply to Folders" feature does NOT reset the views for file open/save dialogs. It's always been that way, but it became much more of an issue for many people when Microsoft decided to give the Downloads folder its own folder type (when Windows 10 1903 was released). That, in itself, was okay, but they made the poor decision to show off their awesome grouping feature at the same time, by making group by date the default for the new Downloads folder type. That combined with the fact that that dialog views can't be reset by using "Apply to Folders" kind of made a lot of people go ballistic for several years now.

Anyhow, that's one of the reasons I wrote WinSetView. Not only will it reset ALL views to your preferences (yes, including dialogs), those views will STICK (yes, the views survive Windows updates). And you can use the tool to apply your preferred views in one click for every new machine/new user you create. I can assure you, if you turn off grouping using WinSetView, it will stay turned off everywhere, forever.

FYI, there's 16 pages of fun filled reading about the issue here.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 10/11
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Acer
Yup. I quite by accident figured out that the right click in the folder when downloading a file works. It's definitely counterintuitive, though.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11 23H2 Current build
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    HomeBrew
    CPU
    AMD Ryzen 9 3950X
    Motherboard
    MSI MEG X570 GODLIKE
    Memory
    4 * 32 GB - Corsair Vengeance 3600 MHz
    Graphics Card(s)
    EVGA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti XC3 ULTRA GAMING (12G-P5-3955-KR)
    Sound Card
    Realtek® ALC1220 Codec
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2x Eve Spectrum ES07D03 4K Gaming Monitor (Matte) | Eve Spectrum ES07DC9 4K Gaming Monitor (Glossy)
    Screen Resolution
    3x 3840 x 2160
    Hard Drives
    3x Samsung 980 Pro NVMe PCIe 4 M.2 2 TB SSD (MZ-V8P2T0B/AM) } 3x Sabrent Rocket NVMe 4.0 1 TB SSD (USB)
    PSU
    PC Power & Cooling’s Silencer Series 1050 Watt, 80 Plus Platinum
    Case
    Fractal Design Define 7 XL Dark ATX Full Tower Case
    Cooling
    NZXT KRAKEN Z73 73.11 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler (3x 120 mm push top) + Air 3x 140mm case fans (pull front) + 1x 120 mm (push back) and 1 x 120 mm (pull bottom)
    Keyboard
    SteelSeries Apex Pro Wired Gaming Keyboard
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3S | MX Master 3 for Business
    Internet Speed
    AT&T LightSpeed Gigabit Duplex Ftth
    Browser
    Nightly (default) + Firefox (stable), Chrome, Edge
    Antivirus
    Defender + MB 5 Beta
  • Operating System
    ChromeOS Flex Dev Channel (current)
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Latitude E5470
    CPU
    Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-6300U CPU @ 2.40GHz, 2501 Mhz, 2 Core(s), 4 Logical Processor(s)
    Motherboard
    Dell
    Memory
    16 GB
    Graphics card(s)
    Intel(R) HD Graphics 520
    Sound Card
    Intel(R) HD Graphics 520 + RealTek Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dell laptop display 15"
    Screen Resolution
    1920 * 1080
    Hard Drives
    Toshiba 128GB M.2 22300 drive
    INTEL Cherryville 520 Series SSDSC2CW180A 180 GB SATA III SSD
    PSU
    Dell
    Case
    Dell
    Cooling
    Dell
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3S (shared w. Sys 1) | Dell TouchPad
    Keyboard
    Dell
    Internet Speed
    AT&T LightSpeed Gigabit Duplex Ftth

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