Safari file upload dialog box

The view mode is stored in the global preferences. Deleting it would cause a lot of restoring things, but that is normally what is required when the OS can't write out the plist when you change something.

You could try writing the correct values and see if they take. For List View:

defaults write -g NSNavPanelFileLastListModeForOpenModeKey 2 
defaults write -g NSNavPanelFileListModeForOpenMode2 2

I didn't have to restart anything for them to take effect.

Give this a try: boot into Safe Mode according to How to use safe mode on your Mac and set the view to list and check to see if the problem persists. Reboot normally and test again.

NOTE: Safe Mode boot can take up to 3 - 5 minutes as it's doing the following; 

• Verifies your startup disk and attempts to repair directory issues, if needed

• Loads only required kernel extensions (prevents 3rd party kernel/extensions from loading)

• Prevents Startup Items and Login Items from opening automatically

• Disables user-installed fonts 

• Deletes font caches, kernel cache, and other system cache files

tayhimself wrote:

Safari file upload dialog box has switched to default column view from list view.

old issue, new issue, what changed?

Upload to where...

Can you paint a bigger picture here...?

Safari User Guide for Mac - Apple Support

It should reopen to whatever you set it to when last used.

Is that not happening?

The Finder View Options have nothing to do with the Open File dialog. While they both give you access to the file system, an Open File dialog in an app is not the Finder.

…and I don't really want to clear cookies and contents.

Well, I can't imagine that would have any affect on the open file dialog, anyway.

Do you get the same in other apps? The open/save dialogs should all behave the same unless the app creates its own instead of using the Apple Framework.