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https://techdows.com/2019/06/fix-files-in-downloads-folder-are-grouped-by-date-in-windows-10-version-1903.html I am a fuddy duddy Microsoft, if I want
[See the full post at: Patch Lady – a new default I’m not fond of]
Susan Bradley Patch Lady/Prudent patcher
almost as good as users using the “recycle” as file storage…
Hey look! Another Feature Update!
You mean I shouldn't click Check for Updates?
Where is the Any key?
Identical I’d say. My download is in a custom location – cloud – where it is accessed by three computers and forms a ‘library’ of installed programs. anything that empties that without my say so is REALLY going to hiss me off. However, I am sure the cloud service will prompt something like, ‘do you really want to delete all those’ and has an option to restore. Ability to recover aside, Downloads is a folder that Microsoft should not decide by default contains garbage. That’s an end-user decision.
I find this a curious attitude. The name of the folder is “Downloads”, which is a word used to describe the mechanism by which the file arrived on the machine, not a description of the contents of the files themselves. It is, in effect, a pre-sorting area. Always has been.
You should be sorting your files by what they are. That’s why we have directories like “Pictures”, “Videos” and “Documents”. Windows doesn’t come with a folder called “Software” or “Installers”, so if you want to store such things, make that folder and move such files there.
Why would I need a staging area? If I must keep things that well organized, then I’d just have my program prompt me for where the file goes, rather than waste time having to go put it up later.
But, honestly, that’s all rather tedious, and I find that downloads don’t usually need that level of organization. It makes far more sense for the files I download most often (EXEs and ZIPs, as you can’t display them in the browser) to simply stay in that one folder. I’ll right-click and save images, which fortunately means Chrome uses a different default folder. And downloading videos usually involves using a different program, so I set a different default folder there. Sure, there’s the occasional document I’ll move to Documents, but that’s about it.
I keep files because there’s little reason to delete things these days. Storage is just so cheap. And even online backup is cheap. So I might as well just keep anything I don’t want to explicitly delete. Sure, most of it is stuff I’ll never actually use again, or could go back and get if I really needed, but, when I do actually need an old file, it’s totally worth it.
But to proactively organize it rather than just use search is overkill. Organizing is the type of tedium we got computers to do for us.
If you mean that’s what Windows has turned it into, sure. But there’s no reason that any sane person would assume that was the case.
The Recycle Bin (Microsoft’s name for the Trash folder concept) is where files go that you’ve explicitly said “I don’t want you anymore” by deleting them. So it’s expected that you might not be able to get the files back. The folder only exists in case you accidentally deleted something by mistake and need it back. And doing so takes little work on the OS side, so why not?
But a Downloads folder is where files go that you’ve gotten online. There’s no reason to assume that you would not want to keep them. And nothing about it suggests that its contents are discarded (like a Trash or Recycle Bin) nor that they are supposed to be temporary (like the various TEMP folders). In fact, files that are downloaded temporarily explicitly go to TEMP or Cache folders, rather that Downloads.
Sure, you can argue whether or not keeping files in the Downloads folder (or a subfolder) is the best way to organize your files, but still there’s no reason anyone would assume they were in danger of deletion.
“After some searching I found that by right-clicking on a group in either the Downloads or the Open dialogue box (say “Yesterday”) the option Group by (None) appears and sets the option.”
Susan Bradley Patch Lady/Prudent patcher
The worst part of this new default is that it hasn’t been documented by Microsoft anywhere.
I haven’t run into this, perhaps because my 1903 install was an update and not a clean install. First thing I always do on a new install is set windows explorer view to details and go over folder options to uncheck things like “hide extensions for known types”. I hate that setting and why does Microsoft continue to use and enable that unsafe setting?….
Anyway…. I’ve never had to mess with the “group by” setting. Currently it’s set to group by “type / ascending”. And that’s the way is was when I upgraded my work pc from 1809 to 1903.
Red Ruffnsore
There is a “Folder Options” dialog box which can be opened by opening the Explorer ribbon, click the “View” tab and click “Options”; there are probably other ways to get there.
If you click on the “View” tab in this dialog box, there is an “Apply to Folders” button. I am on 1809 so I can’t test this, but if you set grouping to “none” as discussed above and then get to and click the “Apply to Folders” button, does it now remember the setting? I know this as worked on previous Windows versions to set new folder defaults.
The worst part of this new default is that it hasn’t been documented by Microsoft anywhere.
They think they don’t need to, lol.
Microsoft will tell you what you will use, and you WILL like it! No questions! Use it how the developers specify!
The worst part of this new default is that it hasn’t been documented by Microsoft anywhere.
Microsoft did announce the switch to sorting by date back in December. The argument being — how do you locate files you just downloaded, given that you didn’t choose the filename?
Yes, I know, here’s a quote from:
Announcing Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 18298
“Updating the default downloads folder sorting: More often than not, when you download a file, you don’t change the name before downloading it. Because of that, the names aren’t always very memorable (cake_134_small_red.jpg anyone?). This makes sorting by name less optimal since it’s hard to find the file you’re looking for, so we’re updating the default sorting to show the most recently downloaded file at the top of the list” instead.
“Note: If you’ve already altered the current sorting from the default in any way, we will not change it – this is only for people who haven’t changed it. If at any point you want to switch sortings, you can do so from the View tab in File Explorer. Some Insiders have had this change for a little bit now, and based on positive feedback we’re now rolling it out to 100% of Fast.”
That lasted for a few months until 1903, which changed it again to Group by Date; which hasn’t been announced anywhere.
I have everything in all my folders set up to group things by type. As to the sorting of the contents of a folder after they are so grouped, it varies with what I keep in a given directory: I choose whatever order makes it easier for me to find what I need there.
Also, I have never used the prepared folders (“Downloads”, “My Pictures”, “My Music”, etc.) I have things set up so everything I download goes to a “Downloads” folder of mine put conveniently in evidence on the desktop, and then I drag things from there to their final destinations in folders of my own that I also keep on the Desktop. I have folders within those folders, so there are not many of those on the desktop, because those there are like Matryoshka dolls inside, with folders nested within other folders nested within yet other folders… After years of using this system, I am comfortable with it. It is a labyrinth, I suppose, but it is my labyrinth, and I’m like a happy rodent comfortable nesting in my own familiar burrow of a filing system. Note to MS: it takes all kinds to make a world.
I mention the above, because the development discussed here strikes me as a forcible attempt to dumb down the system come what may. Note to the MS Higher Up In Charge of Making Dumbing-Down Decisions: I do not work for you, I shall never work for you, you are not my boss, you shall never be my boss, so just go away and leave me and my stuff alone.
Ex-Windows user (Win. 98, XP, 7); since mid-2017 using also macOS. Presently on Monterey 12.15 & sometimes running also Linux (Mint).
MacBook Pro circa mid-2015, 15" display, with 16GB 1600 GHz DDR3 RAM, 1 TB SSD, a Haswell architecture Intel CPU with 4 Cores and 8 Threads model i7-4870HQ @ 2.50GHz.
Intel Iris Pro GPU with Built-in Bus, VRAM 1.5 GB, Display 2880 x 1800 Retina, 24-Bit color.
macOS Monterey; browsers: Waterfox "Current", Vivaldi and (now and then) Chrome; security apps. Intego AV
Thanks for the tip on Disk Cleanup clearing the Downloads folder.
I use Disk Cleanup rarely, and when I do I always go through the individual entries before issuing any commands to delete anything, but this does sound like a gotcha waiting to happen.
Turns out for the first time ever with my new install of Win 10 v1809 early this year I chose to use one of the system-defined folders, the Downloads folder, to store my library of downloaded data. I figured hey, usually the default folder for a download would be closer to where I want to drop things – into subfolders.
This kind of potential gotcha is why in general I have avoided conforming to the way “they” want us to do computing in the past. I don’t like magic behavior. Now I need to consider whether to undo the decision or just try to remember that the gotcha is there if I choose to use Disk Cleanup. I have backups, of course.
-Noel
I always download to the desktop and move the files to the appropriate folders. I don’t use Windows “Downloads”, “My Pictures”, “My Music”, “My Documents”,etc. These are created on my D drive out of reach from Windows updates…
This makes about as much sense as the default “Hide Known Extensions” (STUPID DECISION, MICROSOFT!!!) or the default “Don’t underline Hotkeys” (Does that really confuse the unwashed masses?!?!?), forcing me to turn it on via Ease Of Access every time I sign on to a different computer. (Yeah, I prefer the keyboard over the mouse for many things). Who is in charge of this stuff at MS these days? The idiocy has gone over the top.
Don’t even get me started on the $&^!-show that Control Panel Vs. the Settings app has become. Probably not a big deal to Aunt Martha and Uncle Ed, but those of us that support lots of users find it maddening to try to decipher where some settings have disappeared to! (It is interesting that we had “Add or remove programs” in Control Panel pre-Vista, then the setting became “Programs and Features”, and now it’s still “Programs and Features” in Control Panel, but “Add or remove programs” in the settings app.) The main consistency from MS these days is INconsistency. 
My theory is that as the MS old-timers retire, the younger crew is coding with reckless abandon. They seem FAR too focused on quantity of code rather than quality of code.
(It is interesting that we had “Add or remove programs” in Control Panel pre-Vista, then the setting became “Programs and Features”, and now it’s still “Programs and Features” in Control Panel, but “Add or remove programs” in the settings app.) The main consistency from MS these days is INconsistency.
There’s no “Add or remove programs” in Settings.
(It is interesting that we had “Add or remove programs” in Control Panel pre-Vista, then the setting became “Programs and Features”, and now it’s still “Programs and Features” in Control Panel, but “Add or remove programs” in the settings app.) The main consistency from MS these days is INconsistency.
There’s no “Add or remove programs” in Settings.
So that apparently goes back to my preferred use of the keyboard, rather than the mouse! To see what I mean, hit the Start key on your keyboard and type pro. This brings up “Add or remove programs” with a subheading of System Settings at the top of the list. :-O
Identical I’d say. My download is in a custom location – cloud – where it is accessed by three computers and forms a ‘library’ of installed programs. anything that empties that without my say so is REALLY going to hiss me off. However, I am sure the cloud service will prompt something like, ‘do you really want to delete all those’ and has an option to restore. Ability to recover aside, Downloads is a folder that Microsoft should not decide by default contains garbage. That’s an end-user decision.
I find this a curious attitude. The name of the folder is “Downloads”, which is a word used to describe the mechanism by which the file arrived on the machine, not a description of the contents of the files themselves. It is, in effect, a pre-sorting area. Always has been.
You should be sorting your files by what they are. That’s why we have directories like “Pictures”, “Videos” and “Documents”. Windows doesn’t come with a folder called “Software” or “Installers”, so if you want to store such things, make that folder and move such files there.
Wait a minute! Are you (on MS’ behalf) telling me/us what we should be doing? I shall do what suits me, and keeping files in sub-folders under Download (eg installed, removed, test etc) suits my way of working. No way are downloads something transient that MS can decide need cleaning up. Not that I’ve been caught out, because I noticed the tick in the box the first time. I will credit MS with leaving it unticked so far.
Now to read the rest of the posts, to discover I am merely repeating what others have said…. (and find out how to only quote the bit I wanted)
… but can have different view settings.
Good point
proper name would be Downloaded Programs
Misleading name. Other files also go there.
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