Sort/Arrange All Files In Every Folder By Name

Question

Sort/Arrange All Files In Every Folder By Name

How do I force all of my existing folder on my Mac to sort by name?

MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Mid 2015), macOS Sierra (10.12.4)

Posted on Apr 30, 2017 1:41 PM

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Answer 1

Best reply

Old Toad

Level 10

207,325 points

Apr 30, 2017 3:07 PM in response to FilipAAOfficial

Select a folder and and use the View ➙ Show View Options menu option:

set the sort order to what you want like this:

Of course the text size and columns to show are personal preferences.

Lastly click on the Use as Defaults button.

I'm not sure that will reset other predefined folders but you'll have to check to see if they do or not.

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Answer 2

May 3, 2017 8:59 AM in response to FilipAAOfficial

FilipAAOfficial wrote:

Thank you, but unfortunately I'm unable to enter the command. I just receive an error message.

Please have a look at the attached screenshot below. ⬇️

Judging from your screenshot, I wouldn't say the command failed.

There should be hundreds, or perhaps thousands of .DS_Store files.

If you got two errors only then probably the others were successfully deleted.

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Answer 3

May 3, 2017 8:49 AM in response to Luis Sequeira1

I finally figured out to how to solve this thanks to everyone in this thread.

GUIDE:

Follow these instructions by Paul Conaway:

Filip, under the view menu in the finder choose "Show View Options" select arrange by option and sort by option. There is a button at the very bottom of the window "Use as Defaults" click that. This should do what you want.

Then, follow these instructions by dialabrain:

Chances are you've opened some Finder windows in the past. Individual folder options will override this default setting that we just set.

In order reset your folder settings across the entire machine we have to delete all .DS_Store files. This will ensure that all folders start fresh. Open up the Terminal application (Applications/Utilities/Terminal), and type:

sudo find / -name .DS_Store -delete; killall Finder

You will then be prompted for your password. You won't see your password as you type, so type carefully. This may take a minute or two because it's going to search your entire computer for .DS_Store files.

Done!

Note:

In the future, whenever you switch views, it will automatically save in the new .DS_Store file. This will override the default settings.

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Answer 4

Apr 30, 2017 2:39 PM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder

Thanks buddy, but I need a quicker way of doing this since I want this to apply to every single folder one my Mac. I'm probably looking for a Terminal command/script that will do this automatically. Sorry for my bad explanation though!

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Answer 5

Apr 30, 2017 4:27 PM in response to FilipAAOfficial

I think the information for each folder would be stored in the invisible .DS_Store file inside each folder. I have no clue about what format that file is in, or the exact information it contains.

If you do not use other file views, the View for each previously-opened folder should stay in List view, alpha-by-name descending order. Two clicks for each NEW folder you open does not seem too onerous to me. Consider the possibility that you are being obsessive-compulsive about setting them all this way.

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Answer 6

Apr 30, 2017 5:07 PM in response to FilipAAOfficial

Filip, under the view menu in the finder choose "Show View Options" select arrange by option and sort by option. There is a button at the very bottom of the window "Use as Defaults" click that. This should do what you want.

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Answer 7

May 1, 2017 3:05 AM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder

The reason why this is important is because I’ve a folder containing 400+ folders with family photos inside of them. I recently transfered this folder from my old PC to my Mac and now everything is a mess. It would take me forever to fix this and I need a quicker way. Photos are literally laying on top of each other. Also, I would really appreciate if you didn’t diagnose other people in this community. You gotta understand that OCD is a very serious disorder that affect many peoples lives very negatively. You don’t just go around diagnosing people like that. Please get out of this thread since I and everybody else here has lost their respect for you.

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Answer 8

May 1, 2017 8:16 AM in response to tygb

Thanks buddy, but I need a quicker way of doing this since I want this to apply to every single folder on my Mac. I'm probably looking for a Terminal command/script that will do this automatically. Sorry for my bad explanation though!

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Answer 9

dialabrain

Level 10

122,483 points

May 3, 2017 8:10 AM in response to FilipAAOfficial

You're welcome. I didn't know if it worked with Sierra. Was worth trying. It is apparently possible to delete all .DS_Store files using the app OnyX which will bring all folder views to the default view. I've never used it myself because changing folder views has never been an issue for me.

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