Member Avatar for peeweepeter

Please help.

I have a folder with lots of downloaded music etc. I Always have it arranged so that the most recently downloaded file is at the bottom, and the oldest is at the top. To do this I right-clicked the folder and then clicked arrange icons by>modified.

Now however it is arranged alphabetically and when I right-click I can't arrange by modified and instead have choices such as "Artist, Album Title, Year" etc.

Can someone please help as this is very irritating and it can be difficult to locate a recently downloaded file. I'm sure is easy to fix for someone with the know-how. Thank-you.

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  • Latest Post Latest Post by Axemonkey

Dani AI

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Windows Explorer is picking a "Music" folder template for that folder, so the right‑click Arrange/Sort menu shows music fields (Artist, Album, Year) instead of the file date properties. This is how XP's folder templates work: Explorer chooses an optimization based on the contents and exposes columns appropriate to that type. (vip.chowo.co.uk)

Quick, reliable fix (works without third‑party tools):

  1. Open the folder and switch to Details view (View → Details).
  2. Right‑click a column header or use View → Choose Details and enable "Date modified" (or "Date created" if you prefer).
  3. Click the Date modified column header to sort newest/oldest (click again to reverse).
    These steps add the missing date column and let you sort immediately. (flylib.com)

Make the change persistent and restore the usual "Modified" choice:

  • Right‑click the folder → Properties → Customize tab → "Optimize this folder for:" select "General items" (optionally tick "Also apply to subfolders") and click OK.
  • After setting the view and columns the way you like, open Tools → Folder Options → View and use the Apply to All Folders / Apply to Folders button to push that layout to other folders of the same type. This forces Explorer to stop using the music metadata columns for that folder. (learn.microsoft.com)

Notes and troubleshooting: "Date created" and "Date modified" are different timestamps — some downloaders or archive tools preserve original file modification dates, so sort choice matters if you want "most recently downloaded" files. If a folder still seems stuck on a template, change its name or the parent folder's template and reapply the view; XP also remembers per‑folder view settings, so use Apply to All Folders or reset folder views if things don't stick. (vdoc.pub)

As found, Choose Details often fixes it right away; the Properties/Customize route makes the behavior permanent; 's pointer was on the right track and 's Date Created idea is worth trying if downloads keep original timestamps.

Recommended Answers

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Member Avatar for afzalhassen

try rearraging your files by 'date created'..this will bring the most recently created files in you folder to the top of your list..

Member Avatar for peeweepeter

no i would have tried that thanks anyway tho.
i think that was in windows 98 r sumtn. i have windows xp. currently my choices for order of arrangement in that file are: name, size, type, artist, album title, year, track number, duration, none of which help.

Member Avatar for dlh6213

Try this link:

I think you'll find your answer in the "Details View" section.

Member Avatar for peeweepeter

thanks that page did help a bit. when i went to properties i didnt get the same tabs, but i sorted it out by clicking view at the top of the folder window and selecting choose details. thanks very much tho because that page helped me solve the problem.

Member Avatar for dlh6213

:cheesy: Glad to hear it!

Member Avatar for Axemonkey

I solved this problem by deleting the 'Thumbs' file in the folder in which I was having the problem. I know this is an OLD OLD thread but hopefully this post will help somebody out sometime!

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