# Please help me fix the reverse order file sorting on my Mac

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-me-fix-the-reverse-order-file-sorting-on-my-mac/629051>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [July 22, 2012, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-me-fix-the-reverse-order-file-sorting-on-my-mac/629051 "2012-07-22T16:33:09Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![koeeoaddi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/koeeoaddi/32/408_2.png) [@koeeoaddi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/koeeoaddi)\
**Post date:** [July 22, 2012, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-me-fix-the-reverse-order-file-sorting-on-my-mac/629051/1 "2012-07-22T16:33:09Z")

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Okay, I give up. All the folders on my Mac list the files they contain in reverse order (Z-A, 10-0) until I toggle the name bar on the top of the folder to flip them. And often I find they have mysteriously flipped back. This is particularly irritating when the folder contains an audiobook. Invariably after I flip everything in the folder so it is in the right order and drag it to my mp3 player, it copies the contents (mp3 files) in the correct order until I recharge the player and then the files reverse again.

I have found this issue discussed concerning iTunes, which I almost never use, but for me it’s not just audio files but any group of files, system wide. WTF am I missing/doing wrong?

(I’m on a MacBook, running system 10.5.8.)

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**Author:** ![MikeS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@MikeS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MikeS)\
**Post date:** [July 23, 2012, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-me-fix-the-reverse-order-file-sorting-on-my-mac/629051/2 "2012-07-23T01:07:53Z")

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Once you’ve got a Finder window sorted the way you like it, go to View \> Show View Options. At the bottom of that window, there should be a button reading “Use As Defaults.” I think if you click that, it’ll stick for other windows in the future as well.

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**Author:** ![koeeoaddi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/koeeoaddi/32/408_2.png) [@koeeoaddi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/koeeoaddi)\
**Post date:** [July 23, 2012, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-me-fix-the-reverse-order-file-sorting-on-my-mac/629051/3 "2012-07-23T13:45:18Z")

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It worked, **MikeS**! Thank you so much! 🙂