Sorting folders before files in finder. Help!

Argh. Why should this be so difficult? I thought that to switch file order to a superior order would require only an option choice. I am still looking for why people love Mac, which costs three times as much for no better performance. After initial problems that Mac support could not fix, mine sat on the shelf until an accident put my PC out-of-service. Now I am trying to get along with it. I would like to put folders first, but will, it seems, not be able to do that.

Oh, heavens...

I'm sorry, but your issue boils down to "Why doesn't Mac OS work exactly like Windows?" The answer is that the Mac OS is not Windows; it has its own interface style, priorities and trade-offs. Nothing in the universe can please everyone 100%, except possibly chocolate, and I do not envision Mac or Windows coming out with a chocolate-based OS any time in the near future.

Your options are as follows:

• Trade your Mac for a PC or BootCamp it so it runs Windows, get the particular features you want, and be happy.
• Keep your Mac, continue to pine over those missing features, and be miserable.
• Keep your Mac, learn how to use it like a a Mac, and (potentially) be happy.

Why so many people in the world choose option 2 - the "I won't go back but I won't go forward" option - is beyond me, but there you have it.

You can get something similar by using the Arrange By Kind option in the Finder.

It's not exactly what you're looking for but it's worth a look.

"Why doesn't Mac OS work exactly like Windows?"

Apple owners don't want this feature because it is like Windows.

They want this feature because it is useful, and it makes working with the computer easier.

cwebber1 wrote:

Apple owners don't want this feature because it is like Windows.

They want this feature because it is useful, and it makes working with the computer easier.

I've been using Macs since last century and I've never thought twice about this feature. It's not that I don't know it's possible; I've used WIndows, too. There are simply so many other ways to get at files from the Finder that it never seemed particularly important.

Yes, it's a useful feature. Yes, it's a feature that Mac OS doesn't have. A koan...

cwebber1 is spot on. One of my teachers taught: "The only people who ever stop trying to learn from the experience of others are those who think that they have attained perfection. And in their circle, surely, we do not wish to be included.”

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tl;dr - Is there a third-party solution available that someone has created or discovered?

Alright, so stereotypical bickering about which OS is better aside, we've learned that there is no default way to simply choose to sort folders first in OS X. This isn't only a "Windows" feature, but also a feature used in several programs, applications, and devices throughout history. It's how my directories are sorted in my file browser on my linux box, it's how the directories are sorted in every single FTP program I've ever used, and its how the "tree" structure in most programming applications has sorted files and directories.

Mac OS X simply does not do this as several hundred other applications have.

It comes down to a user experience in function rather than "Mac is different stop complaining". Files are files and directories are groups of files. Why they would be sorted all mixed together by default completely negates the need to group the files in the first place if you ask me my personal opinion. Directories are supposed to make it easier to locate groups of files... which doesn't help if they're randomly sorted amongst large groups of files themselves.

Yes we can "sort by kind", which does display them on their own and this is what I have been using HOWEVER... if there was a way to make this function out of the box without having to change to a display I disike, that would be wonderful. I really like the default view I have apart from the directory sorting. I don't want to use a column view.

So moving on.... with no bickering, whining, complaining, or otherwise stating any false claims about which OS is better or why they're right... is there at least a third-party solution that someone has created or that someone could suggest to accomodate this? I would much rather NOT hack a string file due to the obvious reasons stated in this thread - and because I enjoy updating without having to redo all the work I did previously.

If someone knew of a third party solution, they would have mentioned it long ago. We do try to be helpful, you know. Since no one has, you'll have to do what I would do if I were interested in your question: check the app store and spend some time on Google.

Good luck!

Apart from the Finder hack I mentioned way back at the beginning of this I've nver found another way to do this.

TotalFinder has an option to display folders first in the Finder. It works most of the time. It sometimes got deactivated though for no apparent reason and needed to be activated again manually.

I totally agree with poetnk and Maxeiner : the right issue is not "we need the same feature(s) as windows", but "we need useful features". The one we are discussing here is a truely useful one.

Is it possible to vote on feature requests for a next update ??

Hi guys, there is an easier solution to this sorting problem. Open any folder, right click in it and chose Show View Options. After that set it up like this: Arrange by: Name, Sort by: Kind. That’s it. Folders shown before files alphabetically.

Majkl Thanks very much. That's all that I wanted in the first place: a solution. Rather than curse the darkness, find a light. One small point: it's just the reverse for me, arrange by kind, sort by name.

Majkl does not have a solution that is working on 10.9.1 - if you sort by kind - documents (txt, doc, rtf) still appear above Folders.

One option that has helped me on 10.9.1 is to open System Preferences, Select Spotlight, and then drag "Folder" to the top of the list. This is after modifying the plist file. If the plist file is NOT modified there is no solution that works by simply changing Arrange and Sort values.

Majkl2 wrote:

Hi guys, there is an easier solution to this sorting problem.

There is no solution yet. Only partial solutions that get us closer and require more work.

The solution you propose assumes that that we always want a alphabetic sort of the files. That's a pretty big limitation for me, because I oftern sort by date.

Again, the biggest hurdle is to convince Apple developers that this is useful and desired, and that there is no shame in implementing a function that was invented somewhere else.