How to sort by most recent with folders on top?

Anonymous

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!

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Anonymous

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:

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

Hope that helps :)

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Anonymous

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

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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56 additional answers

Anonymous

2011-01-12T18:58:01+00:00

Halima,

Thanks for your response, but I don't want to do a name sort. I need to do a reverse sort. In other words, the files MUST be in reverse order (newest -> oldest) and the folders need to be on top. When I reverse sort by date, the folders are always moved to the bottom nowadays. Why is this? I need the folders on top!

I've been using this setting on Win7 for over a year without problems, but somehow this setting changed. How do I get the old setting back?
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Anonymous

2011-01-12T18:27:50+00:00

Hi tamarw,

You will only be able to keep the folders at the top of the list and they will not be in order (Date modified)

To keep folders on top of the list

Open Windows explorer and click on the Library pane (Name), this will bring the folders either to end of the list or top of the list.

For more information refer the below link.

Arrange, sort, or group your files

**http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows7/Arrange-sort-or-group-your-files**

Working with files and folders

**http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows7/Working-with-files-and-folders**

Hope this helps!

Halima S - Microsoft Support.

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