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
    2020-03-27T15:23:58+00:00

    Hey mannos, went back to bed for a few houlrs, back up now.

    The fact that the saved view count is the same on all devices and that you don't see the behavior on a local account makes me think that device syncing is interfering with turning off grouping. I think the likelihood that you would have the exact same number of saved views on multiple devices without them syncing very unlikely.

    As I only have my laptop, I can't experiment. So:

    1. Do all those devices that returned 109 sync with the same account?
    2. Does Apply to folders behave differently with sync turned off?

    Be generous with the restarts after changing settings. Esplorer caches a lot of settings.

    Keith

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  2. Anonymous
    2020-03-27T15:45:35+00:00

    It would be REALLY helpful if part of the answer contained a clue as to where this mysterious "save as" window might be found.  

    Questions are asked because the people asking don't know the answers.  :)

    The save as "window" is the path selector window that is opened (outside of the file manager) by applications that require a path input (for a file, for a save path, even when you select a different folder for an app to use for its purpose (it also applies to the window u use to open or select a file in an app, not only save). Hope my idiotic way of explaining **** was useful...

    It really was.  Thanks!

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  3. Anonymous
    2020-03-27T23:57:50+00:00

    Hey mannos, went back to bed for a few houlrs, back up now.

    The fact that the saved view count is the same on all devices and that you don't see the behavior on a local account makes me think that device syncing is interfering with turning off grouping. I think the likelihood that you would have the exact same number of saved views on multiple devices without them syncing very unlikely.

    As I only have my laptop, I can't experiment. So:

    1. Do all those devices that returned 109 sync with the same account?
    2. Does Apply to folders behave differently with sync turned off?

    Be generous with the restarts after changing settings. Esplorer caches a lot of settings.

    Keith

    Thanks very much!  I'll give that a try right now.

    Steve

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  4. Anonymous
    2020-03-28T00:28:35+00:00

    Uh, i wasn't doing restarts after settings change... All devices return 109 both on offline and microsoft account. My AD work account returns 5000... :| have no clue why that is ... In the morning i will try creating a new microsoft account to log on from and try to overwrite all shell registry entries (backing up everything first) - hoping my barbarian approach will get me some results (already thought of getting the reg values from AD user BUT structure is not the same as my microsoft/local users so will probably not work)

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