List of files with similar names and spaces

Question

List of files with similar names and spaces

Something that has been annoying me for a while is that macOS (and OS X before it) does not ignore spaces in file names or sort them 'naturally'. I'm not sure which version of OS X I first noticed this in, but I think it would have been Yosemite (10.10).

I've included a screenshot of the problem. Essentially the problem is that a file name such as 'Test 2.txt' is sorted before a file name such as 'Test.txt'. macOS sorts spaces first, then numerals, then letters. 'Test1.txt' (no space) sorts fine.

This is irritating when trying to create human-readable file names, say the Back to the Future trilogy. If the file names match the film titles they would be:

Back to the Future.mp4
Back to the Future Part II.mp4
Back to the Future Part III.mp4

macOS sorts this instead as:

Back to the Future Part II.mp4
Back to the Future Part III.mp4
Back to the Future.mp4

Is there any way to change this so that files sort 'correctly'?

MacBook Pro (Retina, 13-inch, Mid 2014), macOS Sierra (10.12.1)

Posted on Dec 15, 2016 4:53 PM

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Answer 1

VikingOSX

Level 10

123,398 points

Dec 16, 2016 5:38 AM in response to experimenthouse

When you have multiple, similar filenames, as you do with the Back to the Future series, you can preface each filename with "1_, 2_, 3_, etc.) to force a numeric order sort. The Finder will automatically accommodate you with the following:

In the ASCII collating sequence, spaces always take precedence over letters and numbers, which occur later in the character sequence, and without the above structured adaptation, cause you sorting challenges.

I use the above approach, and also keep movie series in their own folder (e.g. Back_to_the_Future).

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Answer 2

Dec 16, 2016 4:20 PM in response to VikingOSX

That approach would work, although it's not the neatest. It strikes me as odd that a space would go before no space. Removing the extension actually fixes the order — so the "." seems to be treated as part of the file name rather than part of the extension.

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Answer 3

Dec 16, 2016 4:20 PM in response to Lexiepex

Adding a space to the first one or a dash to all three works. My understanding now is that macOS is treating the period before the extension as a character in the file name. Removing the extension puts it in the correct order. It's sorting the "." in the extension after the spaces in the file name.

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