How to set the default folder layout in File Explorer on Windows 10
You can change how File Explorer displays files and file information in a folder. You can selectively enable columns and choose a particular view for the files, among other things. These settings are folder specific, which means you have to set them for every folder individually, which is tedious to say the least. If you want to set the same folder layout in File Explorer for all folders, you can. The trick to it is just a little buried.
Set the default folder layout
Before you start out, you need to understand how folder layouts are set. File Explorer recognizes the types of files that are in a folder, and it optimizes the folder view accordingly. You might have noticed that if you have a folder with audio files, there will be a Play tab. When you set the default layout for a folder, it’s for a folder type. This means the folder layout you set for a folder with audio files in it will not be applied to a folder with images in it.
Open a folder with, for example, images in it. Set it up exactly how you want it. Go to the View tab and select how you want the folder to show you images, add/remove columns if you’ve enabled them, and make any other change you want.
Once you’re done, go to the View tab and click the Options button. Select the ‘View’ tab on the Folder Options window. Click the ‘Apply to Folders’ button, and all folders with that particular type of file will display them the same way.
It’s going to take a while to apply the folder layout for all types of files but generally speaking, you need only set the default layout for audio, video, document, and image folders. You can create a new folder, add these types of files to it, and set the layout accordingly.
For folders with a mix of files e.g., both images and documents, or video and audio files, you might get mixed results. All new folders that you create and add files to will follow suit. You can change the default view for a folder type whenever you want.
You can also set the default folder layout from the Windows registry, but we don’t advise it as it doesn’t offer any benefit you can’t get from the GUI option. You should avoid making changes to the registry whenever possible, even if you are comfortable editing it.
