How to auto-arrange/clean-up files for ALL folders in OSX Mountain Lion

31

9

I have figured out how to make folders auto arrange their contents. This is achieved in Finder->View->Show View Options (or cmd+J).

From the newly opened window, setting the arrange by dropdown will set the folders behavior from then on. But it is only for the folder this menu was opened in. How do I set this as a Finder rule for all directories?

EDIT
I am using Mountain Lion - 10.8.2
I don't have a 'Use as Defaults' button in my view panes - here's a screen grab:

enter image description here

drewwyatt

Posted 2013-03-04T02:47:50.013

Reputation: 525

When you go to a non-dynamic folder like downloads or documents you should see the "Use as defaults" button. – Balloonatic – 2018-08-24T06:34:29.447

1I find this particularly annoying as well. Have you found a solution yet? – Nate – 2013-11-11T20:34:32.403

Answers

46

If you select Use as Defaults from the view options panel, Finder will use those settings as defaults for all folders that don't have folder-specific settings stored in .DS_Store files.

You can clear the folder-specific settings by running sudo find / -name .DS_Store -delete && killall Finder. It also resets other view options, resets the positions of icons, and deletes Spotlight comments.

Lri

Posted 2013-03-04T02:47:50.013

Reputation: 34 501

2@drewwyatt To show 'Use as Defaults': Finder > (in sidebar) Click your home folder > (menu bar) View > Show View Options – Jeaf Gilbert – 2015-09-25T02:18:40.550

1Still works in Yosemite – abjbhat – 2015-10-08T05:27:35.923

1I don't have a Use as Defaults button... I'll upload a screencap to my question. – drewwyatt – 2013-03-12T14:01:55.257

It's not shown in column view. AFAICT, new column view windows use the same arrange by (FXPreferredGroupBy) and sort by (StandardViewOptions:ColumnViewOptions:ArrangeBy) modes. – Lri – 2013-03-13T06:55:35.450

Asked: 2013-03-04T02:47:50.013

Viewed: 61 047 times

Active: 2018-04-05T19:10:53.747