Windows 10: customize Windows folder template reverts back and it is not saved

On Windows 10, File Explorer includes five different templates to customize the view of folders, including "General items" default for every new folder, "Documents," "Pictures," "Music," and "Videos." Unfortunately, for some unknown reasons, I cannot customize my folders from the default "General items" to "Documents," "Pictures," "Music," and "Videos." Below are the steps that I used.



1 Start File Explorer and select the target folder for change.

2 Right-click against the folder to select "Properties."

3 Select the Customize tab on the top right.

4 Under the "Optimize this folder for:", select "Pictures."

5 Select yes for "Also apply this template to all subfolders"

6 Click <OK>



Windows accepted the change without giving any error. But when I verify if the target folder get changed, it is no, it is still customized for "General items." not "Pictures". The same situation happens when I try to change the target folder to other types such as "Documents," "Music," and "Videos.".



The above same problem also appears when I try to make a change to all other folders. For step 6, I have also tried to click <Apply>, then <OK>, but the result is the same.



Any idea on how to solve the above issue?



BASICALLY, the issue is that when I change folder template of folders they are NOT saved and once I go back to properties, it's still set to "general items" I have see people post similar issues but with no avail Fix. Can anyone fix this or tell me how this can be fixed?

:)

 

Windows 10 - Creating Customized WIndows Folder Templates

Several years ago, I created a customized template for my music folders in Windows Vista that included 10 columns
(Title / Album Artist / Contributing Artist / Year / Album / # / Genre / Length / Bit Rate / Rating) and applied this template to all my music folders.

When I upgraded first to Windows 8.1 and then WIndows 10, these columns stayed as I wanted them to be.

However, in mid September 2016, over half of my music folders (I have over 7000 of them) reverted to a 4 column template
(# / Title / Contributing Artist / Album).

The lead folders all show my original template, but despite selecting "the apply to all subfolders checkbox", the reverted folders still display on the 4 columns.

I have checked several videos online, but none of them tell me how to create a new folder template.

 

Folder Template with shortcut to folder inside folder.

I showed you the principle of a method that will do what you wish. To apply it to any folder structure you need to understand how it works.

• In my shortcut I defined the "Start in" folder as %CD%. This means that the shortcut must use the
  current folder as its base. In my example this was C:\Templates\Template1\TestA.
• For the shortcut I used this command line:
  
  explorer.exe ..\TestB\Target
  
  What exactly does this do? Here is the explanation:
  
  1. "..\" tells Explorer to step on up in the directory tree:
  
  C:\Templates\Template1\TestA -> C:\Templates\Template1
  
  2. "TestB" tells Explorer to steop one down in the directory tree:
  
  C:\Templates\Template1 -> C:\Templates\Template1\TestB
  
  3. "Target" tells Explorer to open the file or folder "Target".

Applying this knowledge, you could create a shortcut that makes Explorer step up two folders:

Explorer.exe ..\..\Template2\TestB\Target

C:\Templates\Template1\TestA

-> C:\Templates\Template1

-> C:\Templates

-> C:\Templates\Template2

-> C:\Templates\Template1\TestB

-> Open "Target"

Armed with this knowledge you can now fix your shortcut yourself.

 

Folder columns - Any way to save a new template?

When you use 'Apply to folders' to modify one of the available templates, entries are created under the following registry key:
Code:

In the above screenshot, 'Apply to folders' has only been used for the ;Document' template. Additional entries will be created for each type (Documents, Pictures, Music, Video, and Generic) when you use 'Apply to folders' on folders using those templates. But these only govern a folder's view the first time it is opened in Explorer.

Individual saved folder views are found under:
Code:

The index that associates a folder with a bag is the key:
Code:

and all it's subkeys. The tree structure of the keys mirrors the computer's namespace hierarchy: If BagMRU contains a 'NodeSlot' value, that identifies the Bag associated with viewing the virtual Desktop. Its immediate subkeys represent items such as This PC, Network, Libraries, Control Panel, etc. as well as any folders on your Desktop and items not normally visible such as Search Results. Your registry search was unsuccessful because the folders are identified by their ITEMIDLIST, not their name. I've been playing with these keys since XP days, and just this weekend, had a breakthrough in decoding these entries, but it's not ready for prime-time yet.

But still may be abel to help. Questions:

• What is the contents of your desktop.ini file?
• What folder template are you using for your Podcasts folders?
• Are you just using different columns in a Music template or changing the template to Generic or something else?

Keith