How to sort by most recent with folders on top?

Anonymous
2011-01-12T06:03:24+00:00

Is there a way to sort files by date (reverse, current items first) but keep the folders on top of the directory structure? If so, how? I used to have this setting and it disappeared.

To be clearer, I'm looking for something like this

[folder] abc

[folder] def

[folder] ghi

[file] whatever - modified 1/11/11

[file] filename doesn't matter - modified 1/10/11

[file] you get the idea - modified 1/4/11

[file] and it was 2010 - modified 12/29/10

Does this make sense? Again, I had this setting before and it disappeared. What happened to it, and how do I get it back? A reboot didn't fix it for me. I tried to right click "Sort By" and don't see this option. ALL I want are the folders on top... I don't care about the folder names.

Thanks!

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

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Anonymous
2011-02-11T15:04:54+00:00

I don't know if this is still an issue for the original poster, or if he's gone back to WinXP :)

But recently I was having this annoyance myself.

I wanted to display the contents of a folder (not a library) in detail or list mode, with the most recent on top. However, the default behaviour is to have the folders at the bottom - NOT what I want.

After a LOT of fiddling, I realised that this only happens when the "Date Modified" field is used for sorting. I have found that by using the "Date" sorting field, the folders appear at the top as they (imo) should be.

So, to recap:

  1. Go to a regular folder (NOT a library)
  2. Right-click the field header area
  3. If present, put a tick next to "Date"
  4. If 'Date' isn't there, click 'More' and find it there.
  5. Move the new Date field into position, and click it to sort on date.

Hope that helps :)

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Anonymous
2011-06-03T06:51:09+00:00

otaru's fix did the trick instantly for me.  I had messed around with that concept, but for some reason I only tried ctrl + click on name and alt + click on name.  Never tried shift + click on name for some reason, and instead got all frustrated by this until now.  But, all is well again!  Thanks.

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Anonymous
2011-04-01T20:40:23+00:00

Guys the solution for this problem is on the first page , you have to view the folder files by Detail to see each way you can sort.

Then you click on Date Modified , then Shift + Click on Name , it will fix the sort to always put folders first.

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  1. Anonymous
    2011-01-13T15:55:16+00:00

    Hi tamarw,

    Try the below method and check if it helps.

    a)   Open Windows explorer, right click then click on Sort by later click on Date modified

    b)   Now simply click the date modified column to switch to a reverse lookup

    Hope this helps!

    Halima S   - Microsoft Support.

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

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  2. Anonymous
    2011-01-19T00:55:06+00:00

    Halima,

    This isn't helping or solving the issue. 

    The folders all have files within them that are recent, but somehow even a sort by date modified always puts them on the bottom. What gives? Why did this change on me all of the sudden? I kind of want to reformat to get this working properly -- that's how badly this is impacting and hindering my productivity. Why did this change on me?!

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