Folders and files sort options in dialog windows not following Finder settings

Because the open and save panels are not Finder, but programmatic usage of Apple's library classes (NSOpenPanel/NSSavePanel) that simulate some of the Finder views and features, but do not read the Finder's .plist file that the Finder uses to remember your settings.

Let's go back to a Finder Window. Click once in it, and then press cmd+J to open the Show VIew Options panel. Mine is set to Group by Name and Sort by Kind. That means that all of my folders appear first, and then files, with everything sorted alphabetically. You wouldn't need the first two √ as you use column view.

When I open a File Chooser, and in this case, the one from Apple's Pages, and when I switch to column view, all columns are sorted alphabetically just as though it was a Finder window. Apparently there is inheritance from the aforementioned Finder's settings in use:

As VikingOSX said, these are separate from the Finder; however, if you make changes in the sort order in the dialog, they should work, and remain in force for subsequent uses.

Also, some Finder preferences do affect these open and save - in particular, checking or unchecking "Keep folders on top" in Finder preferences is reflected in open and save - immediately, even if one such window is already open. This "folders on top" applies when sort is done by name, but not other criteria, just like in the Finder.

Aside from the fact that Apple is always tinkering with the Cocoa Classes and related methods, the Open File dialog shows you lists (⌘+2) just like a Finder Window, and at the top of those individual list headings is a ^ or v allowing you to order that column. I am icon (⌘+1) oriented, so lists would be an anachronism for me… 😉

I just opened a Qt6 QFileDialog window in Python instead of the Cocoa classes used in Apple's applications, and the visual functionality is identical.

Try restarting in Safe Mode. Same problem?