Can Win Explorer show: A) folders sorted alphabetically, then below the folders: B) Files by date modified ?

[Ship69]

Hello

How can I set up my Windows Explorer view such that in the right hand pane:

1. At the top of the pane, I see the list of folders. Ideally this should be sorted in alphabetic order [or else order in which last accessed?]

2. Then I want to see my files sorted by date last modified (or date last saved....? or even date last accessed)

Thi

Background
If I sort just by "Date", although the folders will appear at the top, and although the files below them are sorted by when they were last saved, the folder are always sorted by their time of creation - which is deeply irritating!

With thanks

J


PS I have it in my mind that what I see used to be the default view in previous versions of Windows, but if it cant be done are there any freeware/freemium applications that can be used as a replacement for Windows Explorer?

 

[Wolfie]

Hi Ship69,

I really don't know the answer as I think you can either have folder view or file type or last access?, there are alternatives at the following link but the usual warning "USE AT YOUR OWN RISK" and I have not used any of them.

8 Best File Manager Alternative for Windows 10 [2019]

Here are 10 best file manager for Windows 10. Windows 10 file explorer doing a great job but it missing some important features.

bigfactreview.com

 

[Ship69]

Hmmm... I really don't WANT to use any of these things.

Are we sure that after all this time, Windows Explorer really is so stupidly designed as to not be able to deliver what I seek?

 

[Wolfie]

Are we sure that after all this time, Windows Explorer really is so stupidly designed as to not be able to deliver what I seek?

We are talking about Microsoft here so most likely yes?.

There isn't much in the view settings to change.

 

[Ship69]

Do you happen to know what the default settings are for Windows Explorer?
Do it sort on the "Date" field? i.e. Putting the folders at the top, the files in last changed date, but the folders NOT in alphabetical order?

 

[Wolfie]

Hi Ship69,

sorry but I don't know what the default settings are?, there is a button in View > Sort by > Group by but it doesn't react when I click it?.

 

[Rainlover]

Untested.

Create two new columns on the far left. Populate them with the data that you require to sort on.
Sort by these columns then hide them.
You will have to do some pretty stuff like create a template to save to that already has the sorting included. A simple macro might help.
Good luck. As I said untested.

Rain

 

[Ship69]

Untested.

Create two new columns on the far left. Populate them with the data that you require to sort on.
Sort by these columns then hide them.

Is it possible to sort on TWO columns at once? (Holding down any of the control/shift/alt keys and then hitting the a second column header doesn't seem to do anything.

Either way, what fields would I use, because I want the Folder name to be alphetical, but the dates (of last save) to be in date order.

Btw, I am amazed at how many different fields Windows10 appears to be providing use for each file. I'm guessing something like 200! Most of them are blank. Some of them seem to be duplicates - e.g. there are three 'Status' fields.

 

[Bighorn]

This post brings to mind a similar post over at

https://www.tenforums.com/general-support/157262-can-win-explorer-show-folders-alpha-order-b-files-date-order.html

 

[Wolfie]

In the post from @Bighorn , there is a suggestion to use "Total Commander" and/or something like it. Total Commander is not free but there are a couple in the link below but I have no idea how good they are?.

Total Commander Alternatives: 25+ Similar File Managers | AlternativeTo

The best Total Commander alternatives are Double Commander, fman and FreeCommander. Our crowd-sourced lists contains more than 100 apps similar to Total Commander for Windows, Mac, Linux, Android and more.

alternativeto.net

 

[Rainlover]

I am having problems with this.
You have not given a lot of information as to why you want this.
If you used MS Access as a reporting tool you could do some wonderful things, but do you know how to program. In fact I would think that that would be the best solution that I can think of.
Where is your data now? Is the data been typed directly into Excel.
There could be lots of alternatives for you to use but it all depends on what is the origin of the data.

At this stage I have little to add but I will watch this post to see what is happening.

Regards Rain

 

[Ship69]

> You have not given a lot of information as to why you want this.

It's pretty simple:
1. I want to have always see all the folders at the top of the screen, because that helps me navigate up and down the folders hierarchy by clicking on folder names.

2. I want to see the files that I edited most recently because they are the files that I am most likely to want to edit again.

No, I don't want to install anything complicated.

> Where is your data now? Is the data been typed directly into Excel.
eh? My data is in side files of all manner of data types. (e.g. images, ms Word, ms Powerpoint, ms Excel, but also mind maps, Xara Designer, raw text, CVS... ).

To recap, I am trying work out how to navigate up and down my folders and open up my general business documents.

J

 

[Ship69]

TLDR;
In Windows Explorer (Win10) is this sort order possible or not?

 

[Wolfie]

Hi Ship69,

from what I can tell, File Explorer > View > Group by (Ascending/Descending).

 

[Ship69]

Hi Ship69,

from what I can tell, File Explorer > View > Group by (Ascending/Descending).

View attachment 12312

Nice try!
Rather surprisingly it does put the folders into alphabetical order.
But it turns out that it puts the filenames into alphabetical order too(!) whereas I want them in "Date Modified" order.

So nope, no good.

Fwiw, from what I can see "Date Modified" is the same thing as just plain "Date", yes?!

Any other suggestions?

J

 

[Bighorn]

File Explorer [and the previous Windows Explorer] has clickable column titles that can change the lineup but the setting chosen applies to everything in the right panel, ascending or descending, newest to oldest or oldest to newest, A to Z or Z to A. Files don't usually show in the left panel. When needed I have had more than one instance of File Explorer open at the same time with different lineups.

 

[Wolfie]

I don't have any other suggestions for the OP.