# How can I sort files by date in Explorer in XP? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 28, 2006, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-sort-files-by-date-in-explorer-in-xp/342015 "2006-01-28T22:01:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![KlondikeGeoff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3e96dc/32.png) [@KlondikeGeoff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KlondikeGeoff)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2006, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-sort-files-by-date-in-explorer-in-xp/342015/1 "2006-01-28T22:01:01Z")
One of the many annoyances encountered since getting Win XP is a change in Win Explorer. In Win98 when you went to a folder and got the listing of documents (say as in a worldprocessing program), under View/Arrange Icons By… you had the choice of by Date. That has disappeared in XP for some reason. I tried Modified, but that does not arrange the files in chronalogical order, and can’t figure out what it does. When I want to copy the latest modified or new files to another computer, it was easy when the sort was by date, as the latest changed files were then on top. Is there some way to still do this in XP? ---
**Author:** ![ticker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d07c76/32.png) [@ticker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ticker)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2006, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-sort-files-by-date-in-explorer-in-xp/342015/2 "2006-01-28T22:09:47Z")
Make sure you check _View/Details_. Make sure the field you want to sort by is checked in the _View/Choose Details…_ dialog. You can then sort either by selecting from _View/Arrange Icons By…_ or by clicking the column header in the file view panel. ---
**Author:** ![Mac\_Guffin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/2bfe46/32.png) [@Mac\_Guffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mac_Guffin)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2006, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-sort-files-by-date-in-explorer-in-xp/342015/3 "2006-01-28T22:11:59Z")
Right-click on the bar along the top of the window with “name” size" “type” etc. it will bring up a menu of all kins of sorting criteria to choose from, including date modified and date created. ---
**Author:** ![KlondikeGeoff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3e96dc/32.png) [@KlondikeGeoff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KlondikeGeoff)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2006, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-sort-files-by-date-in-explorer-in-xp/342015/4 "2006-01-28T22:35:14Z")
> [@Mac Guffin](#): > > Right-click on the bar along the top of the window with “name” size" “type” etc. it will bring up a menu of all kins of sorting criteria to choose from, including date modified and date created. thanks, **Ticker** and **Mac** , you guys answered faster than a speeding bullet! Clicking on the header bar does indeed give me the options. However, when did it in _Modified_, it did not seem to be working, until I realized it sorted it in reverse order, with the latest modifications at the bottom. So, gurus, is there a way to sort in reverse order? ---
**Author:** ![AHarris](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bcef8e/32.png) [@AHarris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHarris)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2006, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-sort-files-by-date-in-explorer-in-xp/342015/5 "2006-01-28T23:13:16Z")
> [@KlondikeGeoff](#): > > thanks, **Ticker** and **Mac** , you guys answered faster than a speeding bullet! > > Clicking on the header bar does indeed give me the options. However, when did it in _Modified_, it did not seem to be working, until I realized it sorted it in reverse order, with the latest modifications at the bottom. > > So, gurus, is there a way to sort in reverse order? Clicking on the “Date Modified” column header will toggle the sort order between ascending and descending. In order to put the latest modifications at the top, click on it until the arrow points down (descending). ---
**Author:** ![KlondikeGeoff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3e96dc/32.png) [@KlondikeGeoff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KlondikeGeoff)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2006, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-sort-files-by-date-in-explorer-in-xp/342015/6 "2006-01-29T17:40:37Z")
> [@AHarris](#): > > Clicking on the “Date Modified” column header will toggle the sort order between ascending and descending. In order to put the latest modifications at the top, click on it until the arrow points down (descending). Bless you, **AHarris** , that sure works, but would not have figured it out in a million years!