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M3rsn Author

Level 1

1 points

In OS X Lion, Finder will not "Arrange By > Name" in "Column view".

If I select "Arrange By > Name" in "Column View" in any window, nothing happens. This is a massive inconvenience. I attached an image of a finder window of my applications below, in which the Column view with arrange by Name is configured, but the applications haven't been resorted by name.

It will arrange by name in Icon and List views, but not in Column view. Does anyone know how to solve this? Is it a glitch inherent to OS X Lion that Apple didn't catch?

MacBook Pro, Mac OS X (10.7)

Posted on Jul 23, 2011 12:53 PM

Best reply

Barney-15E

Level 10

112,914 points

Posted on Jul 23, 2011 12:58 PM

There seem to be a few glitches in the Arrange/sort model.

You can actually Arrange by and Sort By separately. You can get to the Sort options by holding down the Option key while selecting the Arrangement button.

However, there aren't any sort options when you Arrange by Name. And it doesn't change the sort by option when you switch to Arrange by Name.

Try setting the Arrange by to None. Then, hold down the option key and press the Arrange button. What is it sorted by?

View in context

61 replies

Mar 6, 2014 12:33 PM in response to M3rsn

Thanks so much!

Jun 8, 2014 8:14 PM in response to M3rsn

Oh my goodness! Thank you, this was driving me insane! 🙂

Jun 12, 2014 3:23 AM in response to Barney-15E

Thanks genius!

lin-phys

Level 1

4 points

Nov 11, 2014 8:40 PM in response to Barney-15E

Thanks!

Mar 18, 2015 7:00 PM in response to Barney-15E

Brilliant!!!

tjkcc

Level 1

8 points

Jul 2, 2015 6:34 AM in response to Barney-15E

Thanks!

Aug 1, 2015 7:30 AM in response to M3rsn

Even in August 2015 your a genius.... This has been annoying me for weeks

ever since I did a unrelated re install. SO MANY THANKS. but can't believe Mac still haven't made this simpler!

Aug 1, 2015 4:15 PM in response to hagishere

Simpler…?

Apple are working to complicate things...

remember "save as"…?

Barney-15E

Level 10

112,914 points

Aug 1, 2015 4:24 PM in response to rastas chicken feather

rastas chicken feather wrote:

remember "save as"…?

No. I've completely forgotten it as I never save unless I've finished working on a file. The OS saves it for me.

Aug 1, 2015 4:30 PM in response to Barney-15E

fine fine your work.... but when you have been emailed a file and need to save it to an appropriate location in a a project folder "save as" becomes extremely useful...

Barney-15E

Level 10

112,914 points

Aug 1, 2015 4:51 PM in response to rastas chicken feather

rastas chicken feather wrote:

fine fine your work.... but when you have been emailed a file and need to save it to an appropriate location in a a project folder "save as" becomes extremely useful...

I just drag it to the appropriate folder from Mail.

Aug 1, 2015 5:48 PM in response to Barney-15E

if you in fact want it…. which you may only know by opening it...

then there are your templates, that you open, complete, then save to the required folder...

such a simple workflow, hamper by a redesign in the software, that wasn't required..

Barney-15E

Level 10

112,914 points

Aug 1, 2015 10:22 PM in response to rastas chicken feather

rastas chicken feather wrote:

if you in fact want it…. which you may only know by opening it...

then there are your templates, that you open, complete, then save to the required folder...

such a simple workflow, hamper by a redesign in the software, that wasn't required..

That you do by making stationary. However, you can just Duplicate after opening, or after editing. If you forget and do it after editing, just revert the Original.

sfgrecia

Level 1

9 points

Oct 22, 2015 5:36 AM in response to Barney-15E

Ooohhh Emmmm Geee!! THANK YOU. This inability to sort by file name was driving me nuts. Your simple suggestion worked instantly, beautifully. You've saved my sanity :-)

Aug 29, 2016 10:29 AM in response to M3rsn

An alternative to using the option/alt button to replace "Arrange By" with "Sort By" is to select "View > Show View Options" (or press the Command key then the letter J). You should see both "Arrange By" and "Sort By" displayed and both can be changed at the same time.

In OS X Lion, Finder will not "Arrange By > Name" in "Column view".