When in Icon view, how to sort so horizontal scroll bar is not present

[Libertine Lush]

Hey everyone,

It's hard to explain something so visually orientated--hopefully I'll make myself comprehensible.

In Finder, I would like to be able to display files in Icon view and have the Finder window automatically arrange the Icons downward (vertically) when I adjust the size of the icons or Finder window so that no horizontal scroll bar and only a vertical scroll bar appears, rather than having both a horizontal abd vertical scroll bar appear, which makes navigation very clumsy and inefficient.

I found that I can do just that if I select "Select View Options (or Command+J)," then under "Arrange by," if I choose to arrange by any of the available choices other than "Snap to Grid" the Finder Window for that folder will never display a horizontal scroll bar no matter how I size the Icons or the Finder window itself.

However, oddily, if instead of following the action I just described I right-click a white space in the folder window to bring up the context menu and select "Arrange by" and choose any of the available choices, consequently the horizontal scroll bar still appears when I resize the icons and Finder window. This action and the one above seem equivalent to mean. Why does this second route not effect the same change?

And my second question, is it possible to apply this Finder window behavior (no horizontal scroll bar) to all windows or do I have to do this every single time for every folder I wish to view this way?

Thanks a lot. Do let me know if I need to clarify what I've written if it's not easily understood.

 

[BlueRevolution]

1. It should behave exactly as you describe. I'm using my iPod Touch so I can't test, but it sounds like a bug. Have you tried closing and reopening the folder after making the change.

2. Click the "set default" button at the bottom of the view options window.

 

[Gregg2]

I think the Show View Options Arrange By overrides the contextual menu. The menu is for "on the fly" changes. The next time you open the window, it will revert to the SVO setting.

Snap to Grid and None will display a horizontal scroll bar. The other options won't. That's how it's behaving for me with OS 10.5.8

 

[XxEjGxX]

right when you press arrange by, hold alt key and it will change to always arrange by, then press name and then you'll never need to scroll horizontally

when you resize the folder, the files will all snap to the width of the window and so you'll only need to scroll down

 

[BlueRevolution]

Of course, if the labels are set to display on the right rather than the bottom, you'll scroll right rather than down.

 

[Libertine Lush]

1. It should behave exactly as you describe. I'm using my iPod Touch so I can't test, but it sounds like a bug. Have you tried closing and reopening the folder after making the change.

Closing it had no affect.

2. Click the "set default" button at the bottom of the view options window.

Is that supposed to apply the window settings to all windows in Finder or only the folder I have displayed? At first I saw it only affecting the folder I was in, but now as I check again, it seems to have been applied to every single window, which is what I want.

Thanks.

 

[Libertine Lush]

I think the Show View Options Arrange By overrides the contextual menu. The menu is for "on the fly" changes. The next time you open the window, it will revert to the SVO setting.

That's how it's behaving for me with OS 10.5.8

I'm using 10.6.2, tried that out, and noticed no difference in the behavior compared to using Show View Options. Even when I use the contextual menu, close the window, open it back up, the setting I chose remains.

 

[Libertine Lush]

right when you press arrange by, hold alt key and it will change to always arrange by, then press name and then you'll never need to scroll horizontally

I notice that after I did that, the "Arrange by" in the contextual menu has now changed to "Keep Arranged by" as the default message in the menu in not only the folder I was in but all folders. If I press "alt" it shows the "Arrange by" option again, but if I wanted to, how would I get it to be the default displayed message again?

I also noticed that whether I choose "Arrange by" or "Keep Arranged by," when I exit and return to the folder again, the setting I had just chose, remains, even if I only chose "Arrange by." That seems like what "Keep Arrange by" should be doing. So there seems to be no distinction. Should there be?

Thank you.

 

[Gregg2]

I'm using 10.6.2

Ok, it's always a good idea to mention that in your first post. I'll have to bow out and wish you luck. Another SL user will have to answer the questions about how this behaves.