# How do I make a file save/open dialog box remember it's settings? (windows xp)

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-make-a-file-save-open-dialog-box-remember-its-settings-windows-xp/244117>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [May 8, 2004, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-make-a-file-save-open-dialog-box-remember-its-settings-windows-xp/244117 "2004-05-08T01:41:26Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\
**Post date:** [May 8, 2004, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-make-a-file-save-open-dialog-box-remember-its-settings-windows-xp/244117/1 "2004-05-08T01:41:26Z")

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When opening multiple files one by one I keep having to change the order and display mode of the files (‘modified’ and ‘thumbnails’).

How do I make the dialog box remember the settings?

thanks.

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**Author:** ![Early\_Out](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Early\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Early_Out)\
**Post date:** [May 8, 2004, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-make-a-file-save-open-dialog-box-remember-its-settings-windows-xp/244117/2 "2004-05-08T01:51:19Z")

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That’s a head-scratcher. I’ve got WinXP, and Office XP. If I launch Word, and do a File, Open, have it sort the files by Modified date, and change the view to Thumbnails, it remembers it just fine, even after closing and re-launching Word. Ditto for Excel.

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**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\
**Post date:** [May 8, 2004, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-make-a-file-save-open-dialog-box-remember-its-settings-windows-xp/244117/3 "2004-05-08T01:59:14Z")

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Try this, though I’m not sure if it works as I don’t want to change my own settings.

Change the view in Windows Explorer to sort by date, and then choose Tools / Folder Options / View / Apply to All Folders

In theory this should also affect File Open/Save dialog boxes too.

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**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\
**Post date:** [May 8, 2004, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-make-a-file-save-open-dialog-box-remember-its-settings-windows-xp/244117/4 "2004-05-08T02:00:43Z")

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Sort by date? Sorry that’s now what I meant. Sort by whatever you want.