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Summary: Windows Explorer defaults to a simple view of the files on your machine. You can change that default to include all details by following a few steps.
How do I get Windows Explorer to display details by default?
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Windows Explorer defaults to showing files as icons, and even to hiding some files from you. Personally, when it comes to my computer I'm a control freak - I want all the files and details by default. There are several options including viewing file details that you can manipulate, and it's fairly easy to make them the default. In fact it's one of my standard customization steps whenever I install or get a new copy of Windows.
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It's easiest to think of this as a two step process. First we'll set an instance of Windows Explorer to look the way we want, and then we'll make it permanent.
Now verify that Explorer is showing you things the way you want to see them. If not go back and adjust whatever needs to be adjusted. When you are done:
That really all there is to it. Next time you start Windows Explorer, it should come up with the settings you've selected here.
As you might have guessed the two step process I've outlined above can be combined by not leaving the Folder Options dialog box before pressing Apply to All Folders. The only caveat is that you should press the Apply button at the bottom of the dialog before doing so to ensure that any changes you've made to appearance options have actually taken effect.
This video shows the steps to change the default behavior to show details instead of icons:
Related:
Where is Windows Explorer? Windows Explorer is everywhere - yet finding Windows Explorer on the Start Menu is actually fairly difficult. We look at where Windows Explorer is, and some of the many other ways you can get to it.
How can I get Windows Explorer to default to open on a directory of my choosing? You can create a shortcut to open Windows Explorer on the directory of your choice.
Why does Windows Explorer take so long to display sometimes? Windows Explorer can often take an unexpectedly long time to display its initial screen. There are several common causes of Windows Explorer's delay.
Article C1865 - November 24, 2003
thanks alot, i had even gotten a thought this being a trojan/virus/malware behaviour. thanks alot again.
Posted by: Arnold at April 21, 2009 3:25 AMThanks a lot. I appreciate your work.
Posted by: John at April 27, 2009 7:24 AMThank you, saved me lots of frustrations
Posted by: wrope at May 2, 2009 10:12 PMDear Leo
i know this ..but i want to edit registery so that by default it always show details view.
Posted by: Arvind at July 22, 2009 11:23 PMAnd where do I find the Tools menu? My Windows Explorer in Vista has NONE! Thank you. PS
13-Sep-2009
Posted by: Paul Sadowski at September 12, 2009 2:21 PM
Thank you! This is exactly what I needed, when I needed it. Your directions are concise and easy to understand.
Thanks again!
Posted by: Maharet at September 23, 2009 9:52 AMLeo: I've used this in the past with much success. Is there a way to do a similar thing with the columns in the detail view? For example, I like to see the "Attributes" column. I tried displaying that column in a folder, then choosing folder options, view, apply to all folders, but the columns don't seem to be part of that feature. Do you know how to make my custom column list the default for all folders in the details view?
Posted by: Bob Smiley at October 12, 2009 1:59 PMI consider myself an advanced user of Windows and I have changed nearly every option in the Advanced Settings section of the View tab over my time, but do you think I had ever acknowledged the blinding obvious Folder Views section? No! :) Thanks for the article.
Posted by: bruce at October 24, 2009 4:15 PMGood info, but to take it a step farther, I'd like it to open with it reverse sorted by date (newest file at the top). Is there a registry setting to allow this?
Posted by: Russ at October 31, 2009 9:07 AMHow can i remove the details of display like rating, tag, author, genre, etc... from Windows Vista.
Posted by: Joshymon Mathew at November 2, 2009 12:53 PMThanks in advance