Windows 7 – Changing the default view in Windows Explorer

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Windows 7 offers many different views when browsing files and folder using Windows Explorer (also known as ‘Computer’ or ‘My Computer’).

You can manually change the view for any folder, or select a view then apply to all folders – like setting a default view.

The following steps detail how to change the default view in Windows Explorer.

  1. Open Windows Explorer (also known as ‘Computer’ or ‘My Computer’) and open any folder.
  2. Click on the ‘Change your view’ button near the top right of the window.
  3. MsWin7-DefaultView1
  4. Select the view style you want to be the default – e.g. ’tiles’
  5. MsWin7-DefaultView2
  6. Right click anywhere in a black space in the explorer window and select ‘Sort by or Group by’ and then select the type you want to be the default – e.g. ‘Date modified’
  7. MsWin7-DefaultView3
  8. Once you’re happy with the select view, click the ‘Organise’ button in the top left of the explorer window and select ‘Folder and Search options’
  9. MsWin7-DefaultView4
  10. A new window will open, click on the ‘View’ tab and press the button ‘Apply to Folders’.
  11. MsWin7-DefaultView5
  12. Click ‘OK’ to save the changes
  13. All folders will now use this view as the default. You can still manually change the view for any folder.