Finder Window in Icon View Query

[quaffa]

Hi all,

This is something that puzzles me every now and again, and I'm sure there is a solution somewhere that I've not been able to fathom.

On a Windows PC when I display image files as icons inside a folder, the OS decides an appropriate number of columns to display them in, so that none of them 'go missing' to one side of the window or the other.

But I can never seem to get a Mac to behave in the same way. If I make the icons large enough to be meaningful pictures, the window displays only three columns of perhaps ten columns in total, and I have to scroll left or right to see the missing ones on either side of the three visible ones.

I know there are multiple view options available, but I have yet to discover a configuration that reduces the number of columns to fit the width of the finder window.

Is it possible to do what I desire here?

 

[Gregg2]

Yes. Right click in the window and go to Sort By. I'd bet that yours will have "None" checked. Play with the other options and see which one you like. "Snap to Grid" will allow you to arrange them in any manner you choose. It is a more sophisticated way to do this, as None allows this flexibility too, but does not change the number of columns when you change the size of the window. The others will conform to the rule (By Name, By Type, etc.)

 

[quaffa]

Thanks. Yes, you were right about 'None' being selected. But 'Snap to grid' didn't work either.

In the end, just by trying all the different sort combinations, the settings I found to work was 'Sort by Name' combined with 'Group by name'. But I still haven't a clue why it works or what 'group by' means...

 

[Gregg2]

I've never used Groups in Finder. I did a brief search, and didn't come up with a good explanation of how to go about using them. I've gotten along fine without them, so I don't know what I'm missing.

Snap to Grid sorting solves the items being left wide of the "margins" for me. Icons will move to the next row if I make the window smaller. Doesn't it do that for you?

 

[quaffa]

Snap to Grid sorting solves the items being left wide of the "margins" for me. Icons will move to the next row if I make the window smaller. Doesn't it do that for you?

No, it didn't. Snap to Grid was one of the things I tried before I posted, and it definitely didn't make the icons behave as I wanted them to. But they DO behave like that now, and yet I do not have Snap to Grid selected. Here is my view options drop-down:-

And, as I say, the icons no longer spread outside the window with those settings, but I'm not sure how I've managed to get them to... Mysterious.

 

[Gregg2]

Ok, my bad. Snap to Grid does not change the layout when the window is resized. I should have tested it before twice saying that it would. I guess I need another memory chip!

 

[Mr.Blacky]

No, it didn't. Snap to Grid was one of the things I tried before I posted, and it definitely didn't make the icons behave as I wanted them to. But they DO behave like that now, and yet I do not have Snap to Grid selected. Here is my view options drop-down:-
View attachment 2030919

And, as I say, the icons no longer spread outside the window with those settings, but I'm not sure how I've managed to get them to... Mysterious.

You don't really need to group by name, sort by name is enough. "Group By" makes much more sense with every other selection.