This can be highly confusing, and requires some manual view mode modifications from time to time to change to the desired view mode. As we have mentioned previously, a wrongly configured folder mode can slow down the folder display time in Windows (see Fix slow folders in Windows 7).

There is currently no direct option to change the folder view mode for all folder templates in the Windows operating system together. The only options provided are to change the view modes for each template separately, which to be honest, is not that user friendly at all. A user would have to make the changes to a folder of each folder template, and then select the Apply To All Folders option in the Folder Options.

folder options

A faster option is available by some light Registry editing. It consists of two steps. In step one, all folder template associations are deleted, to reset them back. The second step is then used to define one view mode for all folders, that will then not be changed by moving different types of files into folders.

The Windows Registry Editor needs to be opened first. To do that press Windows-R, type regedit and hit enter. Accept the UAC prompt if it appears and navigate to the key HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\Local Settings\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Shell

Locate the key Bags and delete it. You may want to create a backup prior to deleting it, this can be done by right-clicking the key and selecting Export. The key can be deleted by selecting it, and hitting Del on the keyboard.

windows folder view modes

This resets all folder view modes. Visiting a folder for the first time may change the folder view mode again. To avoid this from happening, a default view mode needs to be configured in the Registry. Open a single folder in Windows Explorer, so that the Bags key is regenerated.

Switch to the Registry key HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\Local Settings\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Shell\Bags\AllFolders\Shell

Look on the left side and see if the value FolderType exists. If it does set the value to NotSpecified by double-clicking the value. If it is not existing right-click in the right window, and select to create a new String Value with the value mentioned above.

configure folder view mode

This sets the default folder mode to general for all folders. It still may be necessary to modify the current folder view settings, but that is only necessary once and they are set for all folders.

There may still be situations where the default folder view mode is changed by the operating system, by updates for instance. Just repeat the process to reset the folder settings once again.

Windows does not have that function build in, that’s for sure but I was able to discover the software Folder View which, among other functions, comes with a folder history. The application basically adds another toolbar to Windows Explorer that provides fast access to selected folders on the computer’s hard drive.

This is pretty useful as well but I mainly use it because of its recent folders option that displays a list of the recently closed folders. A click on one of the folders would open the folder again making it possible to continue working with it.