Folder View Settings - Reset to Default in Windows 8

How to Reset Folder View Settings Back to Default in Windows 8 and 8.1​

   Information

This tutorial will show you how to reset the folder view settings of "all folders" or "only folders using the same folder template" back to default in your user account in Windows 8, Windows RT, Windows 8.1, and Windows RT 8.1.

Folder view settings include the folder templates, "Group by", "Sort by", and "Arrange by" views, and icon size or view settings.

   Note

If Apply to Folders was used to set folder views and templates, then this tutorial will not reset them to default since "Apply to Folders" makes what you set the new default. Instead, you will need to use Reset Folders (Option Two below) to be able to reset each folder template back to default.

Resetting all folder views to default will also auto arrange and align all icons on your desktop to the left side.

   Tip

Windows Update Issue Notice:

Folder's view settings continuously changes between different folder types in Windows

OPTION ONE

To Reset Folder View Settings of "All Folders" Back to Default

NOTE: This option will reset the folder view settings of all folders (all templates) and libraries on the computer back to default only in your user account.

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1. Click/tap on the Download button below to download the BAT file below.​

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Windows_8_Reset_All_Folders_To_Default_Folder_Views.bat​

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2. Save the .bat file to your desktop, and run it.​

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3. If prompted, click on Run. ​

NOTE: If you like, you can stop getting the Run prompt by unblocking the downloaded .bat file.​

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4. You will now notice your screen flicker as explorer is restarted to apply the registry changes.​

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5. When it's finished, you can delete the downloaded .bat file if you like.​

OPTION TWO

To Reset Folder View Settings of Only "Folders using the same Template" to Default

NOTE: This option will reset the folder view settings of only all folders using the same folder template as the currently opened folder on the computer back to default only in your user account. If Apply to Folders was used to set folder views and templates, then you will need to use Reset Folders to be able to reset each folder template back to default.

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1. Open File Explorer, navigate to and open the folder that you want to reset the folder view settings of it and all folders using the same folder template (ex: Pictures) as it. (see screenshot below)​

NOTE: While you can also open the main Libraries folder to use this with, you will not be able to do this with the individual library folders themselves.​

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2. Open folder options from within this folder and not from any other location. (see screenshot above)​

NOTE: You would want to use either OPTION TWO at this link.​

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3. Click/tap on the View tab, then click/tap on the Reset Folders button. (see screenshot below)​

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4. Click/tap on Yes to confirm. (see screenshot below)​

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5. Click/tap on OK. (see screenshot below step 3)​

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6. The opened folder in step 1 and all folders with the same folder template (ex: Pictures) as it, will now have their folder view settings reset back to default. (see screenshot below)​

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OPTION THREE

To Reset All Settings of a Library to Default

NOTE: This option is for when after you make any changes to a library's settings, you would like to reset the library completely back to it's default state.

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1. Open or select a library (ex: Pictures), click/tap on the Manage (Library Tools) tab, and click/tap on Restore settings in the Ribbon. (see screenshot below)​

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That's it,
Shawn

Related Tutorials

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• How to Back Up and Restore Your Folder View Settings in Vista, Windows 7, and Windows 8
• How to Change the Template of a Folder or Drive in Windows 8 and 8.1
• How to Set a Default Folder Template for All Folders in Windows 8 and 8.1
• How to Set a Default Folder View for All Folders in Windows 8 and 8.1
• How to "Apply to Folders" a Custom View to All Folders with Same Template in Windows 8 and 8.1
• How to Disable Auto Arrange in File Explorer to have Free Sorting in Windows 8 and 8.1
• How to Change Icon Size and Layout Folder View in Windows 8 File Explorer
• How to Change Width of Columns in File Explorer in Windows 8 and 8.1
• How to Change Order of Columns in File Explorer in Windows 8 and 8.1
• How to Add or Remove Columns in File Explorer in Windows 8 and 8.1
• How to Sort, Group, and Arrange Items by a Column in File Explorer in Windows 8 and 8.1
• How to Clear Changes made to Library View in Windows 7 and Windows 8

 

[BigFatBoy]

the old windows "REMEMBER FOLDER VIEW" feature.....



back in the old days,
before W8 folder templates and default views,
before we had so many ways to customize and preselect specific views for W8 Folders,
a Windows OS could offer a simple "REMEMBER the Last Folder View" option for each and all folders.
So when you opened that folder the next time, the folder view would be the same as the last folder view used for that folder.

It seems like all the appearance renovations from Windows Explorer to File Explorer left behind a view feature that I really miss...

Did Microsoft forget to remember this feature when it designed the many pre-selected choices for folder views in W8? If you know how to find the old "Remember View" feature for W8 folders, it would bring me great joy if you shared it.

thank you.

ps.
hmmm. I wonder if a library folder view of "C:\" might work..?

 

[Brink]

Hello BigFatBoy,

By default, Windows remembers the folder view settings as they were when the folder was last closed. Each target location of the folder will have it's own separate folder view setting.

Hope this helps,
Shawn

 

[BigFatBoy]

hmmmmm ....

WOW !
now my head is really spinning.

I will chew on those two facts for awhile and try them out.
It will be great if it works !!

 

[Brink]

Please feel free to ask any questions you may have.

 

[BigFatBoy]

Folder views question

I wrote about Windows 8 remembering my view settings in File Explorer when I closed 'Folder-X', and then re-opened 'Folder-X' with that same view, and every time I opened Folder-X in File Manager I saw the same view.
Windows 8 has not lost its memory, thank goodness.

So, since I wanted to start with a clean slate using File Manager, I choose to reset Folder templates based on folder file content. [Note: Sometime in the past I used the "Advanced settings:" menu in "Folder Options\View\" to select the way I wanted File Explorer to display file folders in general. I selected the "Folder Options\View\Apply to Folders" button and clicked OK to save my work.]

Having used the above in the past, I went to "How to Reset Folder View Settings Back to Default in Windows 8" and, mindful of the "Note: Apply to Folders", was ready to use "Reset Folders" in Option Two.

I used the same paths and folders as the screen shots posted. I open a File Explorer and started with the C:\Users\Public\Public Pictures\ folder. I used the Folder Option button to access Folder Options, and opened the View Tab. The existing Advanced Options were ok as-is so the Reset Folders button was used. I clicked on OK to save the changes. I closed File Manager and re-opened it. I went to same folder I used above [Public Pictures] to look around. In File Manager I used the Home Tab\Properties\Customize and is saw the folder was optimised for general items. I checked other picture folders under c:\users\ xx with the same result. Do you think maybe MS optimized the picture folders using the general items template?

 

[Brink]

By default, the "C:\Users\Public\Pictures" folder uses the "Pictures" template. Not sure why yours had a "General Items" template unless you set it using some other method.

If you like, Option One will reset all folders back to default.

 

[BigFatBoy]

I will try it. thanks

 

[Brink]

You're welcome. I hope it will work for you.

 

[avada]

Hello BigFatBoy,

By default, Windows remembers the folder view settings as they were when the folder was last closed. Each target location of the folder will have it's own separate folder view setting.

Hope this helps,
Shawn

Can I disable this feature?
I don't want windows to remember any view settings.
I disabled auto folder type detection:

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Shell\Bags\AllFolders\Shell]
"FolderType"="NotSpecified"

But I still get new entries in HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Shell\Bags, so folder view settings are still saved constantly. I don't want that.

 

[Brink]

Hello BigFatBoy,

By default, Windows remembers the folder view settings as they were when the folder was last closed. Each target location of the folder will have it's own separate folder view setting.

Hope this helps,
Shawn

Can I disable this feature?
I don't want windows to remember any view settings.
I disabled auto folder type detection:

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Shell\Bags\AllFolders\Shell]
 "FolderType"="NotSpecified"

But I still get new entries in HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Shell\Bags, so folder view settings are still saved constantly. I don't want that.

Hello avada,

Unfortunately, Windows will always remember folder view settings when set by default.

I suppose that you could place the .bat file in your Startup folder to have it run and reset your folder views back to default each time you sign in.

http://www.eightforums.com/tutorials/5180-startup-items-manage-windows-8-a.html

Hope this may help,
Shawn

 

[avada]

Hello avada,

Unfortunately, Windows will always remember folder view settings when set by default.

I suppose that you could place the .bat file in your Startup folder to have it run and reset your folder views back to default each time you sign in.

http://www.eightforums.com/tutorials/5180-startup-items-manage-windows-8-a.html

Hope this may help,
Shawn

Okay. Thanks.
I was hoping for a reg key to disable it.

 

[Brink]

I posted something in your other thread below about this that may be about as close as you can get, but changes will still be remembered.

http://www.eightforums.com/general-...tails-view-all-folders-even-after-change.html

If you like, you could use the tutorial below to create a backup of your folder view settings once you have them set how you like using what I posted in the link above. Afterwards, place the backup in your Startup folder. This way when you sign in, your folder views will be reset back to how you had them set in the backup to undo any changes that may have been manually made since then.

http://www.eightforums.com/tutorials/32105-folder-view-settings-back-up-restore-windows.html

 

[Rodolfo]

Hello,

I have the following problem: all my files show the "date" and no name columns. At first, the problem was only on the internal disk (C but, after running your .bat file, the problem spread to the external disks too.

The .bat file showed errors on lines 4,5,8,10.

A operação foi concluída com êxito.
A operação foi concluída com êxito.
ERRO: O sistema não pôde localizar a chave do Registro ou val
ERRO: O sistema não pôde localizar a chave do Registro ou val
A operação foi concluída com êxito.
A operação foi concluída com êxito.
ERRO: O sistema não pôde localizar a chave do Registro ou val
ERRO: O sistema não pôde localizar a chave do Registro ou val
ÊXITO: o processo "explorer.exe" com PID 4876 foi finalizado.

The output is in Portuguese, but you can see the word ERRO (error) there:

Error: the system could not find the specified Registry or value - my translation.

Is this a problem with the .bat file or with my machine? Could you help me fix this?

Thanks!

PS: Thanks for your guides, too!

 

[Brink]

Hello Rodolfo, and welcome to Eight Forums.

Here's the full translation below. Everything is fine though. The error messages just means that it could not find the registry key to delete. They were added to the .bat file to make sure that those keys got deleted if they were in your registry.

Did explorer get successfully automatically restarted immediately after running the .bat file without any File explorer window being open first?

http://www.eightforums.com/tutorials/2686-windows-explorer-restart-explorer-exe-windows-8-a.html

The operation was completed successfully.The operation was completed successfully.
Error: the system could not find the registry key or val
Error: the system could not find the registry key or val
The operation was completed successfully.
The operation was completed successfully.
Error: the system could not find the registry key or val
Error: the system could not find the registry key or val
SUCCESS: the process "explorer.exe" with PID 4876 was finalized.

 

[Rodolfo]

Hello, Brink.

Did explorer get successfully automatically restarted immediately after running the .bat file without any File explorer window being open first?

Explorer did close, but did not open. I ran it a second time on an elevated cmd.exe and it worked fine - but files column view problem was not solved. I should add that "search" is not working - I guess since it can't find the file names. Also, OneDrive isn't starting. I'm currently running SFC and DISM - it will take a while to finish, though.

http://www.eightforums.com/tutorials/26512-dism-fixing-component-store-corruption-windows-8-a.html

Thank you!

 

[Brink]

For now, you should be able to manually add back the "Name" column while in "Details" view, then use "Apply to Folders" like in the tutorial below.

http://www.eightforums.com/tutorials/9753-folder-view-set-default-all-folders-windows-8-a.html

 

[Skrunch]

I posted something in your other thread below about this that may be about as close as you can get, but changes will still be remembered.

http://www.eightforums.com/general-...tails-view-all-folders-even-after-change.html

If you like, you could use the tutorial below to create a backup of your folder view settings once you have them set how you like using what I posted in the link above. Afterwards, place the backup in your Startup folder. This way when you sign in, your folder views will be reset back to how you had them set in the backup to undo any changes that may have been manually made since then.

http://www.eightforums.com/tutorials/32105-folder-view-settings-back-up-restore-windows.html

Hey Brink, thanks for the batch file. I was wondering if it's possible for you to make one for Windows 10?

Thanks a lot!

 

[Brink]

Hello Skrunch, and welcome to Eight Forums.

I have it on the to do list, but you can use this one in Windows 10 as well if you like. It's the same.

 

[Skrunch]

Thanks a lot Brink, just wanted to make sure it was compatible before using it on Windows 10.