Force every folder to be arranged by kind and sorted by name?

[Inconsequential]

Is there an easy way to force the entire system to display any finder folder/window with the same preferences?

That is:

List View
14 pt text
Arranged by kind
Sorted by name


Is there a default file somewhere I can edit to my personal tastes?!

 

[yawns]

Is there an easy way to force the entire system to display any finder folder/window with the same preferences?

That is:

List View
14 pt text
Arranged by kind
Sorted by name


Is there a default file somewhere I can edit to my personal tastes?!

This is exactly how I want to browse files, all the time. But you can't do it. There is no user-definable default view.

Theoretically, if you delete all of your .DS_Store files (which - warning - will delete all directory-defined views, "labels," and maybe some other superfluous stuff), then set the "top" views in Finder (all the places you can start at), the settings are supposed to cascade down as you browse. This never works for me, though. Finder will randomly decide that some directories need some other view, and sometimes it'll just completely forget what you asked it to do.

 

[ozaz]

I can force Finder to always open in list view using the show view options in the view menu of Finder (which also gives icon size preference).

[EDIT: Scrap the previous sentence. It's now apparent that option is not persistent for me either]

However, I'm also very frustrated by the inability to set the arrange behaviour. Like the OP, when I select arrange by kind, I want the secondary sort (the sort within each kind) to be arrange by name. But as far as I can tell, the secondary sort appears to be fixed as arrange by date (ascending from old to new).

Is there any behind the scenes tweak that can be used to accomplish this (e.g. editing a preference file)?

 

[GGJstudios]

Is there a way to sort by kind and name?

 

[yawns]

Is there a way to sort by kind and name?

I'm increasingly suspicious that this person is a bot that just randomly replies to threads with irrelevant links.

 

[GGJstudios]

I'm increasingly suspicious that this person is a bot that just randomly replies to threads with irrelevant links.

The link is directly relevant, which you would know if you took the time to read it. And no, I'm not a bot.

 

[Inconsequential]

The link is directly relevant, which you would know if you took the time to read it. And no, I'm not a bot.

But with nothing to add to this thread... so nice try but no cigar!

 

[Partron22]

It's complicated: more than I want to know about ".DS_Store"
But the link at least offers a way to start fresh, so most folders behave as you like, for a while at least.

 

[GGJstudios]

But with nothing to add to this thread... so nice try but no cigar!

You obviously didn't read that thread, either. It directly relates to this discussion.

 

[GGJstudios]

Is there an easy way to force the entire system to display any finder folder/window with the same preferences?

Arranged by kind
Sorted by name

Is there a default file somewhere I can edit to my personal tastes?!

Since no one cares to click and read, I'll spell it out for you, from that thread:

UPDATE: One more question (sorry). How can I make this new change effect all windows? When I went back, it only affected the one window I was in?

I don't think you can. You need to do it for every folders in the Finder's left pane. It can be a bit annoying, but it's still fast because you don't have to close the "view options" window every time.

This is insane I have to do this for every folder. Clicking "use as default" isn't changing them all.

Clicking "Use as default" will change enclosed folders as well for some settings. I'm not sure if that is true for your particular group of preferred settings.

So the simple translation from that thread is, there is no way to set a default so that your preferences are displayed the same way with any folder.

Reading is fundamental.

 

[QuarterSwede]

Since no one cares to click and read, I'll spell it out for you, from that thread:




So the simple translation from that thread is, there is no way to set a default so that your preferences are displayed the same way with any folder.

Reading is fundamental.

I'd call that a bug even if it's the intended function. http://www.apple.com/feedback

 

[ozaz]

Here's the most promising looking workaround I've seen:
http://macs.about.com/od/usingyourmac/ss/Setting-Finder-Views-For-Folders-And-Sub-Folders.htm

See page 4. I haven't tried it myself yet - and have only skimmed through the article - but it seems like an automator action could be used to set the view options for all subfolders of a parent folder based on the view options of the parent folder (which could of course be the root folder).