# Windows XP Directory Display: Sorting Issue

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windows-xp-directory-display-sorting-issue/218255>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [December 11, 2003, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windows-xp-directory-display-sorting-issue/218255 "2003-12-11T02:38:37Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Earthling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/90db22/32.png) [@Earthling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earthling)\
**Post date:** [December 11, 2003, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windows-xp-directory-display-sorting-issue/218255/1 "2003-12-11T02:38:37Z")

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Just upgraded the home PC to WinXP Pro, and I’m looking at a directory, sorted by filename, supposedly:

99e…jpg  
401…xls  
160…txt  
990…zip  
bal…txt  
car…xls  
chi…txt  
col…pdf  
ema…xls

And so on. Now, why aren’t the files beginning with numbers properly sorted? The files beginning with alphabets seem to be correctly ordered as far as I can see, though I have no confidence that will always be the case.

This phenomenon is not restricted to my own computer – once earlier this year, when a co-worker and I were looking for a file (the name started with an alphabet, IIRC) on our network drive, it showed up where it belonged on my Win2000 office PC, but she couldn’t find it on her WinXP-driven display. I then went over to see for myself and we eventually located it, but it appeared in a place that defies any ordering scheme I could figure out.

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**Author:** ![DarrenS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/977dab/32.png) [@DarrenS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DarrenS)\
**Post date:** [December 11, 2003, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windows-xp-directory-display-sorting-issue/218255/2 "2003-12-11T02:42:20Z")

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Have you tried clicking the “name” column header to sort, then clicking again (if it reverse sorted)? Windows tends to put recently modified files at the top or bottom of the sort order, irrespective of your options.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Earthling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/90db22/32.png) [@Earthling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earthling)\
**Post date:** [December 11, 2003, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windows-xp-directory-display-sorting-issue/218255/3 "2003-12-11T02:44:54Z")

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Yes, I have.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Earthling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/90db22/32.png) [@Earthling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earthling)\
**Post date:** [December 11, 2003, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windows-xp-directory-display-sorting-issue/218255/4 "2003-12-11T02:46:34Z")

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Oh, and it makes no difference.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Earthling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/90db22/32.png) [@Earthling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earthling)\
**Post date:** [December 11, 2003, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windows-xp-directory-display-sorting-issue/218255/5 "2003-12-11T03:19:00Z")

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Sorry, everybody. I got it figured out. Never mind.

Seems that Microsoft changed the default sorting algorithm in XP to be more, I suppose, “human-friendly”:

Old scheme:  
1.txt  
110.txt  
12.txt  
2.txt

New scheme:  
1.txt  
2.txt  
12.txt  
110.txt

It does get confusing, however, when there are files containing both numbers and alphabets, as in my case. I suppose we mere mortals are never meant to divine what Microsoft’s formula for those are.

To get back to the “original” sorting scheme, one has to edit the registry per the instructions [here](http://www.win2000mag.net/Article/ArticleID/39299/39299.html) (which is also where I took my examples, to give them proper credit).

Once again, apologies for unnecessarily taking anyone’s time.