How to manually arrange folders in windows 7__

Anonymous
2009-10-24T14:09:18+00:00

When i try manually move one folder to be the first i can t whay

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

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Anonymous
2009-10-25T13:55:54+00:00

Hello ivan099, welcome.

You can manually arrange desktop icons, however, any other icons within folders are auto-arranged and cannot be altered by direct access. You can arrange them in a multitude of different ways by right clicking open space (within a folder) and selecting Sort By > More...

A problem was discovered in Windows XP when users would accidentally manually arrange folders and icons and, in turn, they would overlap eachother. For simplicity's sake and for performance reasons, this feature was removed.

There are a number of 3rd-party programs that exist that allow you to do this, however, they would of course not be supported by Microsoft.

I would search the internet for 'File Manager', 'Alternate Shell', or something of the like. You may find some support forums that have users that specialize in just the exact thing you are looking for.

Hope this helps,

Thanks!

Ryan Thieman

Microsoft Answers Support Engineer

Visit our Microsoft Answers Feedback Forum and let us know what you think.

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  1. Anonymous
    2011-09-21T08:00:32+00:00

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  2. Anonymous
    2011-12-20T19:20:06+00:00

    This is terrible!  I need this feature to organize songs in a playlist on my mass storage mp3 player. Since mass storage mp3 players don't support m3u or other playlist files this was the ONLY way to make a playlist!!!  Now that I've upgraded to Windows 7 you're telling me I'm stuck listening to 1000 songs in alphabetical order?  Or date modified?  How is this creating value?  I would return it and go back to XP so I could still listen to music in an order that made sense, alas no returns on software :(

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  3. Anonymous
    2011-12-21T10:24:04+00:00

    There IS a very simple solution to this problem. I was as appalled as you when I first got Windows 7 (soon after its first release date) because it would not let me manually arrange photo slide show sequences.

    The fix consists of a very simple registry change which I applied in a few minutes from the instructions obtained by copying and pasting the following link into your browser:

    http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/92758-windows-explorer-auto-arrange-disable.html

    This fix has worked perfectly for me, allowing 'auto-arrange' to be disabled in all folders. Files may be manually arranged exactly as in XP and Vista. Numerous routine Microsoft Windows 7 updates have been applied over the years with no adverse effects.

    I am absolutely amazed and appalled that Microsoft have not picked up on this and applied the fix in a routine update. It's so SIMPLE and would make thousands of users very happy!!

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  4. Anonymous
    2012-01-30T14:43:13+00:00

    Finally, a simple solution that actually works! 

    http://www.winhelponline.com/blog/disable-auto-arrange-folders-windows-7/

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