organise folders by name, group by none - does not save setting

Question

organise folders by name, group by none - does not save setting

sir twosheds 0

I keep sorting folders by the above settings.
However, no matter how many times I do this when I return to the same folder or a folder of similar attributes, it has reset to 'recent' and 'groups'
Followed the instructions in a post here from last April - that didn't work.

It's driving me mad, how am I supposed to remember the last time I interacted with a folder or file?

sir twosheds 0 Reputation points

2026-09-15T05:29:27.72+00:00

It's more or less sorted
The problem still manifests itself when in the save file dialog box, which still shows date/groups

Who uses dates/groups anyway, how is one supposed to remember the date you last interacted with a file?
sir twosheds 0 Reputation points

2026-09-15T05:30:25.7066667+00:00

It's more or less sorted The problem still manifests itself when in the save file dialog box, which still shows date/groups

Who uses dates/groups anyway, how is one supposed to remember the date you last interacted with a file?

3 answers

Your answer

sir twosheds 0 Reputation points

2026-09-15T05:29:27.72+00:00

It's more or less sorted
The problem still manifests itself when in the save file dialog box, which still shows date/groups

Who uses dates/groups anyway, how is one supposed to remember the date you last interacted with a file?
sir twosheds 0 Reputation points

2026-09-15T05:30:25.7066667+00:00

It's more or less sorted The problem still manifests itself when in the save file dialog box, which still shows date/groups

Who uses dates/groups anyway, how is one supposed to remember the date you last interacted with a file?

Answer 1

In File Explorer, set both the sort and grouping explicitly for the affected folder:

Open the folder.
Select View and use a layout such as Details.
In a blank area of the file list, right-click and set Group by to None.
Sort by Name.

If the folder keeps reverting, apply the same view more broadly:

Open a folder that has the view set correctly.
Select the three dots on the toolbar, then Options.
Open the View tab.
Select Apply to Folders.

If the problem still does not save, the accepted Microsoft Q&A guidance is to check the registry keys that store folder view state:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Shell
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Shell\Bags
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Shell\BagMRU

Check that the Windows user account has Full Control on those keys. This affects saved folder views, grouping, sorting, and folder optimization preferences.

Warning: editing registry permissions is a higher-risk step. Back up the registry keys first before making changes.

References:

Answer 2

DaveM121 931.8K Independent Advisor

1

Open a folder in File Explorer.

Set your preferred view on that folder.

Click the 3 dots at the top of File Explorer and select 'Options'

On the View tab of the resulting dialog, click 'Apply to Folders' and save that setting

That will set the default view for all folders of that type.

2

There are 5 different folder types in Windows (Documents, Pictures, Videos, Music and General Items)

To set your view in all folders in Windows, you need to perform the steps in 1 above for one folder of each type.

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Answer 3

If you have already tried "Apply to Folders" and the view settings are not sticking, you may have hit the 5000 saved views limit. However, if you used "Apply to Folders" and only see an issue with folders when they're accessed via an app's file open/save dialog, that's normal. The open/save dialog views are not updated by "Apply to Folders".

You can fix either issue by first deleting the HKCU Bags/BagMRU key pair from the registry and then use "Apply to Folders". That should give you consistent views everywhere, but is a solution that is probably too technical for most users. Alternatively, you can use my free WinSetView tool to do that work for you.