How do I get Windows to stop resetting all my files?

I have a lot of files. I have them sorted and cataloged. And I want them in lists so I can quickly see what files there are.

I don’t want icons that fill up the page and make me have to scroll around. I want lists.

I don’t want details of stuff like how big the files are or when they were created or what type of format they are. I want lists.

Windows doesn’t like lists. They offer it as a setting but it’s clear they’re doing so with great reluctance. Windows like icons and details.

And of course Windows is sure that everyone likes whatever Windows likes. So it helpfully keeps resetting all my files to lists or icons. And knowing how busy I am, it helpfully goes ahead and does this without waiting for me to ask. Just one of the helpful services provided by Windows.

How do I stop Windows from doing this? How do I get Windows so it will just leave a file in the format I set it in and never change it unless I decide to change it myself?

Fair warning. Anyone who claims Windows doesn’t do this gets slapped. Anyone who claims this is a good idea and I should appreciate what Windows is doing for me gets kicked in the genitals.

In WIndows 7 (I assume you are using) open any folder.
Set your view, set folder for “List” or “Details” or what you want.
The menu bar has “Organize” - Folder options - view tab
“You can apply this view to all folders of this type”
Plus other options like “show file extensions” and don’t hide hidden files…

I just wanted to get clarification on this bit - you’re not saying that you’ve dragged them into custom order within their folders are you? (because I know people sometimes do that, and the results will always be fragile)

If you want this, there’s a feature known as “folders”. Put the list you want in a separate folder. Inside windows, your list or details can be sorted by what shows - name, type, date modified, etc.

If it is actually changing back (after you’ve set “all folders”), then you have my sympathy. That would be a corrupt personal profile, or a “Windows Explorer” add-in.

You can try deleting your personal profile (or, if it is a home computer, just creating a new user and using that).

If it’s an Explorer add-in problem, there is a free utility (probably from “System Internals”) that can show you what you have loaded. Problem: there will be scores if not hundreds of Windows Explorer add-ins on a normal computer.

I wish it was 7. I’m dealing with Windows 8.

No, it’s not the order of the files that’s an issue. I generally keep those in simple alphabetical order with some files sorted in chronological order. But regardless, they’ve stayed in the order I’ve set them so that hasn’t been a problem.

It’s the layout that keeps changing. I have a choice of six layouts: Extra large icons, Large icons, Medium icons, Small icons, List, Details. I want to generally keep every file in list layout: it contains the only information I really need - the names of the individual files - displayed in the most compact fashion. Every other layout fills up the screen with other information I don’t need which means there isn’t enough space for all the file names to be displayed on screen at the same time.

Give this FixIt a try.

That doesn’t appear to apply to Windows 8.

This one looks like it might help, although I confess I have not tested it.

One possible alternative is to use a different file browser instead of Windows Explorer.

I would venture a guess that in almost all cases, when you see an icon, it is within Windows Explorer.

There are several free alternatives to Windows Explorer. Each has its own pros and cons.

The one with which I am most familiar was written to get around the Windows Explorere restriction of a single pane. It has two panes and is called Explorer2 or 2explorer. You’ll have to Google each one to find the current release.

It appears there are quite a few new file explorers that have been written since I last looked and if you Google “windows file explorer double pane” you can find a bunch.

The same dialog is present, but getting to it is a little different.

Open a folder and organize it into list view the way you want.

Then, at the top, go to the View tab. Click the Options button at the far right.

In the Folder Options window that pops up, click on the View tab. Then click the “Apply to Folders” button. That should make everything appear in list view.

It does.

I have precisely the same problem in Windows 8, only in my case it persists in changing medium icons to large icons. I’ll try the fix.

Okay, I’m giving this a try. It isn’t really what I want. What I want is no default setting and everything to just stay on what I set it. But if I’m stuck with a default setting, I guess I’d prefer my choice of which one I’m stuck with.

I’ll admit I have my doubts about this working. The option setting tells me I can use it to set my folders to details or icons. Which is another sign of Windows’ love for these formats. I’ll try it and see if I can use it to avoid details and icons or if it only works in one direction.

Yeah, give it a shot. And Windows SHOULD remember each folder’s settings individually after you change it, but in my experience it’s kinda hit and miss and black magic voodoo determines if it works.

There is an explicit yes/no system setting for “remember each folder’s settings”. If it’s hit and miss and black magic, it’s not working correctly.

It’s gone in later versions of Windows. And it never seemed all that reliable in my decade of using that setting in XP, and repeatedly having to reapply “All folders” every few weeks cuz shit would keep randomly changing. It uses some annoying templating system where folders with X number of images of Y number of songs become a different folder “type”, and the same folder seemingly changes over time, and in the end I’m sure there was some correct way to make ten registry changes to make them all stay the same and lose their customizations at startup… but I could never figure it out.

“It’s not working correctly”, when it comes to Microsoft, usually means “Nah, it’s working. You’re just not doing it our way. Buy some third party program that does it your way or fuck off.”

I miss the version of Windows Explorer in Windows ME. Can I have that one back?

As long as the thread’s been bumped, I’ll add that the “Apply to Folders” attempt failed. I still find my folder settings changing when I don’t want them to. I can’t think of any reason why moving a folder or renaming a folder should change its settings. And I’ve found that if you change one folder to details, Windows will often go ahead and change all your folders to details. And sometimes it just changes the folder settings apparently at random.

As far as I can tell, the guiding principle in the development of Windows 8 was to promote sales of Windows 9.