Windows explorer moves the selected folder to bottom of folders list. How do I stop this?

Anonymous
2009-12-27T19:25:21+00:00

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Open a windows explorer

show folders on left

Double Click Computer

Double Click C disk

Scroll to windows   Double Click 

Double Click diagnostics  (example)

The folder is now moved to the bottom of the folder list.

This also happens when any folder is clicked once and the the open gadget is clicked once.

This is increadably annoying.  How do I stop it?

Windows for home | Previous Windows versions | Files, folders, and storage

Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.

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Anonymous
2010-03-22T08:24:10+00:00

Hi j1234567890j - and everyone else that repsonded to this post. 

I also expierence this problem and like with everyone that replied on this post an many others that this is driving me insane. To make matters worse, this problem presents itself also on the Open or Save file dialogs in any application that relies on the Windows File Dialog.

In my case I also found that the behaviour is inconsistent. Sometimes the problem presents itself and sometimes it does not. - This is why it is difficult to zero in on the behavior and some folks cannot replicate the problem. So, I believe other replies on various posts where this problem cannot be replicated. As a developer I understand this, since we often have the response: "...but it works in my computer..." - And yes it does, because typically a dev/support machine is set up for ideal circumstances. I am digressing...

Trying to understand the Problem

I have noticed a pattern, however. I have found that if I collapse the folder in question and expand (double click) again, that the navigator moves again, this time exposing all sub-folders that are direct descendants of the folder in question. I have also noticed that if the sub-folders are too many to display in the navigation panel, that the selected folder is scrolled to the top of the panel, exposing as many folders that can be viewed. 

I think the intention of the navigation behavior is that when the user expands the folder, it will show as many as possible sub-folders in view - but I also think that this is where there is a bug - or at least where some other setting has an impact on the behavior. - For some reason, when a folder is expanded the navigation pane only finds the first sub-folder and exposes that one - hence the anoying movement of the selected folder away from the current mouse pointer position.

Finding an answer

And yes - even though I think I understand the problem - I agree with everyone elses user experience - This must be fixed!

I am not sure that a moderator will pick this up as this post is marked as awnsered - even though in my opnion it is not.

But if someone does: I think providing an option on the General tab of the Folder Options dialog for a user to turn off this behavior and just expand the folder without attempting to present all viewable folders in the navigation pane.

Regards

Andre Coetzee

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  1. Anonymous
    2013-09-21T14:13:45+00:00

    I have this same problem on all my computers, the folder I click on goes to the bottom

    xp was much faster to navigate

    you could single click a folder and it would expand out then single click a subfolder and another and another

    now I have to zero in on the tiny little arrow and then scroll down to get the subfolders in view

    I have tried to set the options to single click to open folders, but when im in a save as dialog if I hover over a different file it changes the file im trying to save to the file name im hovering over, then I have to cancel and restart the save as dialog, including renavigating the folder im trying to save in

    I do like the favorites at the top of the folder lists and the libraries

    one of my laptops still have wp on it and its such a pleasure to use for navigating harddrives and folders

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  2. Anonymous
    2013-06-12T20:42:53+00:00

    If the indoctrination had not worked so well most businesses and educational institutes would have realised by now that Open Source is actually an alternative now. They only need to read the Coverity report to see that OS can match itself with proprietary software any day these days. I can't help thinking that Microsoft is well and truly committed to their "push" approach and I for one will be very happy not to have to rely on Microsoft anymore come next year. Another "happy customer" changing to Linux...

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  3. Anonymous
    2013-06-12T17:31:11+00:00

    Yeah, and next thing you know we will have to 'root' or 'jailbreak' our OEM laptops and tablets, just to be able to own them, like our phones... (well tablets are already like that for the most part).

    I am like you, where I like to have full control under-the-hood, and don't like to do everything from the top-layer like they want us to do. It's always slower that way to get anything done.

    Oh well, so the hacker community will grow to overcome the trend. If it really gets that bad, we can still always use the alternatives like Android, Ubuntu, etc.

    But I have a feeling Win8 will be like the Vista of the past, where it was a flop and the people spoke, so Win7 then became the breath of fresh air (supposedly) over Vista.

    Microsoft always has had a trend of highs and lows as you will note throughout history. It goes UP (Win95-98), then down (Millenium), then ramps UP again (2000-XP), then down (Vista), then UP (Win7), and pattern repeats as always with Win8, and my guess is that Service Packs as always will be a desperate attempt to fix some annoyances but ultimately the people will speak through sales numbers about what they want and Microsoft will respond by making changes in the next big releases.

    Of course this pattern of ups and downs always seemed suspicious to me because the OEMs always came out with the 'down' versions of Windows, so then the people who bought all those PCs with horrible OSs, were EAGER to of course spend $100-300 on an OS that would be a breath-of-fresh-air version...

    I know I still run Win7 (which is fine for the most part, with Classic Explorer), and I have no plans to buy Win8 as I compared the features and see nothing that looks intriguing or ground-breaking to me. And as for my work, we are all still using XP as domain clients, so I don't really think they have any big plans to change either or they would've done so by now.

    It's Sales that tries to tell us we need the latest and greatest...

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  4. Anonymous
    2013-06-12T14:57:38+00:00

    In my opinion Microsoft doesn't want anyone using explorer or any file manager. They want you to adopt the Windows 8 Apps paradigm where apps takes care of the file management for you. First they buried Windows Explorer deeper in the Start Menu. Then they took My Computer and your Profile shortcut off the desktop. Now they are making it annoying to use explorer. Then they took away the Start Menu all together and designed it to switch to the legacy desktop if you used anything other than the new APPS!

    It's a slow baby step approach to keeping users out of the file system for good. I call it the Apple mac mentality. Like it or not the dumbing down of end-users is here to stay and gonna get worse.

    I wonder what is in store for Windows 9?

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