Disable group by in Downloads folder (Windows 10 1903)

Anonymous
2019-06-18T09:01:17+00:00

Hi, since I updated to the new Windows 1903 version the files in some folders like "Downloads" are always grouped by the date. I was able to disable this in the File Explorer itself by choosing "Group by = none". But in all kind of "Save as" dialogs from any application the group by date still appears and in those special explorer windows there is no option to disable file grouping in them. So how can I disable this globally?

Windows for home | Windows 10 | Files, folders, and storage

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Anonymous
2019-06-19T03:25:57+00:00

Hi Chap Sistine,

Thank you for writing to Microsoft Community Forums.

The Group by option in normal folders and in Save as window are different, so if you change the Group by to type in Downloads folder, it will not change in Save as window. Then, if you change the Group by in Save as window, it will not change in normal folders.

You can refer the below example.

Change the Group by as size in Downloads folder - Change the Group by as size in Save as window.

Change the Group by as type in Downloads folder - (Check) Group by as size in Save as window (it will not change until you right-click in Save as window and change it to type or anything else).

Also, the Group by option is specific to folders and once you change Group by for a particular folder, the changes will not be applied to all the folders. You need to change the Group by for every folder by opening that particular folder > Press the Alt and V > Click on G > Select the Group by settings or click on Choose columns for more options.

So, once you change the Group by in Save as window, it will remain the same regardless of whichever application you open the Save as window from.

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  1. Anonymous
    2020-04-10T17:10:02+00:00

    only went through the original "answer" from Shafeek.

    The registry hack of searching for all instances of GroupView and setting it to 0 seems to work, at least for now. Unfortunately my registry had about 3000 instances of GroupView, of which about 50 were something other than 0. Painful process. Probably worth getting a better app to edit than regedit, one that can search for GroupView not = 0

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  2. Anonymous
    2020-04-10T17:07:41+00:00

    The registry hack of searching for all instances of GroupView and setting it to 0 seems to work, at least for now. Unfortunately my registry had about 3000 instances of GroupView, of which about 50 were something other than 0. Painful process. Probably worth getting a better app to edit than regedit, one that can search for GroupView not = 0

    See Keith Miller's answer posted August 16th! (tried to paste it here but no luck)

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  3. Anonymous
    2020-04-10T01:34:20+00:00

    This IS absurd.  I turned off syncing.  Now whenever I open the downloads folder, instead of all the folders inside it being displayed at the beginning of the directory, EVERYTHING is displayed alphabetically.  It sorts itself back to arrange the folders first, but it takes several minutes to do it.  Every.  Time.  I.  Open.  Downloads.

    This is a REALLY stupid problem.   And it's one that Microsoft designed for no apparent reason and doesn't seem inclined to fix or even comment on.  I've started switching all of my computers over to Linux.

    Steve

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  4. Anonymous
    2020-04-09T23:43:53+00:00

    Grouping returns no matter what I do. It disappears, then returns the next time I am in a Save As windows. How to disable in registry? This view is unhelpful and irritating because it keeps defaulting when I have it set to never show grouping.

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