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
    2020-03-28T01:01:44+00:00

    The number returned by that code is the number of folders that have a saved view. So it grows as you view folders in Explorer and use the common dialogs. 5000 is the max. When you hit that, Explorer has to delete a view every time it wants to save a new one & that's when many notice that views don't seem to be remembered.

    It's not clear from your reply if your various devices were set to Sync and whether or not your tried turning off Syncing and then attempted Apply to folders. That's what I was curious about.

    Keith

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  2. Anonymous
    2020-03-29T15:56:15+00:00

    This solved my problem.

    Open the registry.

    Goto

    HKCU:\Software\Classes\Local Settings\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Shell\Bags

    Search for 

    GroupView

    i.e. HKCU:\Software\Classes\Local Settings\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Shell\Bags\1\ComDlg{240000A6-0000-477D-B940-338200000000}\GroupView=0

    Change value to 0 for any values that are not already 0.

    Problem solved.

    Only thing which really solved this horror for ALL situations (also save as dialog window) - all groupview lines should be set to 0

    With horror I mean the fact that intelligent software engineers just decide things without giving an option, screw up things which work and most of the time lack empathy with the very user for which they work

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  3. Anonymous
    2020-03-29T16:57:44+00:00

    This solved my problem.

    Open the registry.

    Goto

    HKCU:\Software\Classes\Local Settings\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Shell\Bags

    Search for 

    GroupView

    i.e. HKCU:\Software\Classes\Local Settings\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Shell\Bags\1\ComDlg{240000A6-0000-477D-B940-338200000000}\GroupView=0

    Change value to 0 for any values that are not already 0.

    Problem solved.

    Only thing which really solved this horror for ALL situations (also save as dialog window) - all groupview lines should be set to 0

    With horror I mean the fact that intelligent software engineers just decide things without giving an option, screw up things which work and most of the time lack empathy with the very user for which they work

    Oh dear Lord that's the reg key!!!! And it seems to change to 1 after logging in to my microsoft account and on every restart thereafter. So i deleted the key completley (i know, stupid ideea, but backed up reg before hand) and rebooted. BOOM! on reboot the newely created key doesn;t change anymore. Removing my microsoft account from the PC and adding it back seems to recreate the issue though... I think it's my account that's a little screwed but am too lazy to migrate all my data and settings to a new one ... :P anyway - problem solved for now!

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  4. Anonymous
    2020-03-29T21:48:39+00:00

    It did nothing on my computer.  I searched for all occurrences of GroupView in the registry, but all were already set to 0.  :(

    This solved my problem.

    Open the registry.

    Goto

    HKCU:\Software\Classes\Local Settings\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Shell\Bags

    Search for 

    GroupView

    i.e. HKCU:\Software\Classes\Local Settings\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Shell\Bags\1\ComDlg{240000A6-0000-477D-B940-338200000000}\GroupView=0

    Change value to 0 for any values that are not already 0.

    Problem solved.

    Only thing which really solved this horror for ALL situations (also save as dialog window) - all groupview lines should be set to 0

    With horror I mean the fact that intelligent software engineers just decide things without giving an option, screw up things which work and most of the time lack empathy with the very user for which they work

    Oh dear Lord that's the reg key!!!! And it seems to change to 1 after logging in to my microsoft account and on every restart thereafter. So i deleted the key completley (i know, stupid ideea, but backed up reg before hand) and rebooted. BOOM! on reboot the newely created key doesn;t change anymore. Removing my microsoft account from the PC and adding it back seems to recreate the issue though... I think it's my account that's a little screwed but am too lazy to migrate all my data and settings to a new one ... :P anyway - problem solved for now!

    Was this answer helpful?

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