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Change order of items in a folder

All of my folders are in list view. Somewhere along the line, I ticked an option that, when I open a folder, shows me nested folders first (alphabetical order) and then individual files (also alphabetical order). I want to go back to having all items in a folder (whether a nested folder or an individual item) listed in alphabetical order. Can't seem to find where the option exists so I can change it back. Can someone help? Thanks

Posted on Oct 4, 2019 8:13 AM

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Question marked as Best answer

This is part of Finder Preferences, so click on Finder in the menubar select Preferences> Advanced and uncheck this,



Posted on Oct 4, 2019 10:06 AM

7 replies

Oct 4, 2019 8:18 AM in response to PhilC

The finder offers four views as represented by icons in the toolbar:

  1. icon
  2. list
  3. column
  4. gallery


Also, on the toolbar is a Group button that you could change from None, to Name when in the specific folder. Similarly, you can also organize a list view ascending or descending alphabetically by clicking on its Name heading. Column view, not having headings will respond to Group by Name.

Oct 4, 2019 9:28 AM in response to VikingOSX

Given the response, it looks like I am being less than clear in my question. All of my folders are in list view. Default view options are set to group by "none" and sort by "name." When I open a drive containing both folders and individual files, it opens with all folders listed first (in alphabetical order), followed by all files (an alphabetical order). I want all items, regardless of whether an item is a folder or a file, to be listed in alphabetical order.

Oct 4, 2019 9:38 AM in response to PhilC

I am afraid that behavior was changed. I have heard people clamoring for the present behavior ("folders on top") for years.

FWIW, I don't care much either way, but I wish there were a preference setting. There isn't, at least not in the GUI. Perhaps there is a hidden preference (one that could be set with the "defaults" command in Terminal) but I don't think so.

Change order of items in a folder

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