Really annoying Finder Window behaviour!

[quatermass]

This comes under the heading "Minor Annoyance" rather than "Major Issue".

Whenever I open a new Finder window in list view, or change from column or icon to list view, the items are always ordered the wrong way! By default I use "By Name" but rather that being ordered from A - Z, or 1 - 9, with A or 1 being at the top, it's always the other way round!

It's a small thing, but I find it really annoying! I'm sure, somewhere, there's a thing top tell it which way round I want it. I think there used to be, but blowed if I can find it.

Any ideas, hive mind?

 

[Honza1]

This seems unusual, not what I see. Did you try to remove Finder preferences (plist?). Library/Preferences/com.apple.finder.plist. Delete it and it will get recreated. See if that helps.

 

[quatermass]

This seems unusual, not what I see. Did you try to remove Finder preferences (plist?). Library/Preferences/com.apple.finder.plist. Delete it and it will get recreated. See if that helps.

Good idea - will do!

And yes, it does seem odd - been using Macs since they ran on steam and can't recall this behaviour at all.

 

[allan.nyholm]

Try looking into System Preferences -> Language and Region -> General -> Advanced. Change the list sort order to things other than Universal. I have a Danish sort order that I can choose in that popup-menu. I use American-English as the language for my OS.
If you live in England - then try adding British-English to the language list in the previous screen. Or what ever other language you happen to speak natively.

 

[BanditoB]

On the right side of the column header there is a small gray arrow that points either up or down. Click on it to change the sort order from top-to-bottom or bottom-to-top. Once you change it, it will stay set that way until you change it again.

 

[BrianBaughn]

Actually, all you have to do is click on the any column heading…to select sorting by that column…and then click the same column to reverse the sorting order.

 

[ignatius345]

On the right side of the column header there is a small gray arrow that points either up or down. Click on it to change the sort order from top-to-bottom or bottom-to-top. Once you change it, it will stay set that way until you change it again.

You can also activate additional columns like "Date Modified" or "Date Created" and sort by those. Just right-click on any column header and you'll get a menu to check/uncheck visible columns.

 

[quatermass]

Actually, all you have to do is click on the any column heading…to select sorting by that column…and then click the same column to reverse the sorting order.

Yep, you can do that, but what I'd rather have is the windows show descending or by default.
Whenever I open a folder, or make a new Finder window, it's always the wrong way, and I'm sure it didn't use to be like that!

 

[BrianBaughn]

Yep, you can do that, but what I'd rather have is the windows show descending or by default.
Whenever I open a folder, or make a new Finder window, it's always the wrong way, and I'm sure it didn't use to be like that!

I'm pretty sure what I see is the way I left it the last time I had the folder open…which is usually the sorting I prefer but sometimes not.

 

[BanditoB]

@quatermass - if your folder settings aren't being remembered, your system isn't working correctly. There is a hidden file in each folder that is written so that they maintain your last-used settings.