Windows 10: Save the settings in File Explorer's Folder Options dialog

I couldn't get anything like the above proposed solution to work for the settings in File Explorer's "Folder Options" dialog. But this works:

NOTE: As always, when messing with the registry, it is wise to back up (export) any keys that you will be changing prior to doing so!

First, determine your registry SID:

1. Run regedit (no need to run it as Administrator)
2. Expand the registry hive HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\WindowsNT\CurrentVersion\ProfileList which will display a list of users by their SID names
3. Expand each SID key and examine the ProfileImagePath value to identify which one is your users key
4. Right-click that SID key and select Copy Key Name, then paste the copied name into a Notepad or Word document. The relevant part of the key name is the users SID, something like S-1-5-21-982684679-592840582-1966211492-3399

To save the current File Explorer settings:

5. Copy/paste the following key-path template into the same Notepad or Word document: HKEY_USERS\--your SID--\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced
6. Copy the actual SID from your users ProfileImagePath key and paste it to replace the --your SID-- part of the HKEY_USERS\...\Advanced key-path template
7. Copy the resulting HKEY_USERS\...\Advanced key-path to the clipboard
8. In regedit, if you havent already done so, set it to display its Address Bar (select View => Address Bar)
9. Paste the copied key-path into regedits Address Bar
10. Right-click the resulting HKEY_USERS\...\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced key, select Export and give the export-file a name that clearly identifies what it is

To restore previously saved settings:

A. Open File Explorer and go to the folder in which you previously saved the needed settings
B. Execute (double-click) the exported .reg file that contains the needed settings
C. In the confirmation dialog, select Yes
D. In the successfully added dialog, select OK
3. IMPORTANT: for the new settings to take effect, you must sign out of Windows and sign back in!

:)

 

File explorer save options view

The SaveAs dialog is a separate uility to File explorer. So you need to set it up separately to list things the way you want.

Open a SaveAs dialog in Notepad. Get it into Details view using the More options button in the upper-right area then click on the header at the top of the name column and your folders / files will be listed alphabetically. The SaveAs dialog will retain this setting for the next time you use it.

Then test that the SaveAs dialog in the application you referred to in your question behaves as expected. Some applications insist on generating their own SaveAs dialogs and they might or might not follow the same rules as the proper Windows SaveAs dialog.

Denis

 

Open/Save Dialog not showing all folders/files

Hi Gary

In order to get a better idea of the problem, can you please provide a screenshot of a listing of those folders in Windows File Explorer and also in the Open/Save dialog, which shows folder that cannot be seen in that dialog . . .

 

File Explorer Save As dialog changed?

Following the latest Win 10 update, has something changed in File Explorer? In the Save As dialog shown in my screenshots I expect a simple alphabetic order, with folders first then files.

It gets even more confusing if I show all files, by entering '*.*' into the File name box.





Is there some setting I can use to restore the familiar, consistent display please, as many of my (Macro Express Pro) scripts rely on it.

Note: if it's relevant, I use the Classic Shell file explorer.

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Terry, East Grinstead, UK