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I just want to "disable" confounding Auto Arrange files within folders in Windows 10. I can't understand that when you leave file/folder icons in the position and order that you want and then Windows decides to mix them up. I'm continually wasting time trying to find lost data. It's ridiculous. Does anyone know or can create something that just allows you to arrange or sort files within folders, and Leave them alone, without the OS messing them up?
Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.
I'm not sure what disable auto-arrange is except for the desktop icons. The order of files in your folders always has been controlled by the Sort by and Group by choices on Explorer View tab.
In Windows 10, each folder could have its own sorting choice. But in Windows 11, the sorting and grouping you set for just ONE folder affects all other folders.
I curse it every single day. I am really fed up with it. I don't think 12 updates is enough to get a response from Microsoft. Pity.
12 upvotes now.
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has this issue not been fixed yet?!
This is not a "fix" situation (at least not from Microsoft's perspective). They decided a long time ago to remove this feature and, AFAIK, have no plans to bring it back. Unless one or more of their bigger corporate customers insists they bring back the functionality, it's unlikely you'll ever see it again. Having worked at one of those companies, I can assure you that Explorer functionality is really of very little interest there.
To put this in perspective, this discussion has somewhere near 3000 views. IMO, that's significant. However, the discussions where people are complaining about the change to the Windows 11 right-click menu have over half a million views and Microsoft has not backed down from that change.
There's also an Explorer feature that wasn't removed (i.e. the checkbox is still there) but was broken in Windows 11 in January 2022 (yup, over two years ago) and still hasn't been fixed. That's the item labelled "Also apply this template to all subfolders". If it takes them that long to fix something that's apparently still supposed to work... well, you get the idea.
They've not fixed it at all yet! Can't keep files in same order or place in window. Using Mac mostly now, because, common sense! it does this natively.
Still unbelievable they just broke this fundamental need.
