Specify the default view, sort order, and zoom levels for the file manager.
Tiffany Antopolski
tiffany.antopolski@gmail.com
Shaun McCance
shaunm@gnome.org
Michael Hill
mdhillca@gmail.com
Ekaterina Gerasimova
kittykat3756@gmail.com

# Views preferences in Files

You can change the default view for new folders, how files and folders are sorted by default, the zoom level for the icon and compact views, and whether files are displayed in the tree sidebar. Select Files Preferences in the top bar while Files is open and select the Views tab.

# Default view

## View new folders using

By default, new folders are shown in icon view. If you prefer the list view, you can set it here as the default. Alternatively, you can select a different view for each folder as you browse by clicking the View items as a list or View items as a grid of icons button in the toolbar.

## Arrange items

You can change the default sort order that is used in folders using the Arrange items drop-down list in the preferences to sort by name, file size, file type, when they were last modified, when they were last accessed or when they were trashed.

You can change how files are sorted in an individual folder by clicking the View options button in the toolbar and choosing By Name, By Size, By Type or By Modification Date, or by clicking the list column headers in list view. This menu only affects the current folder.

## Sort folders before files

By default, the file manager no longer shows all folders before files. To see all folders listed before files, enable this option.

## Show hidden and backup files

The file manager does not display hidden files and folders by default. You can always show hidden files by selecting this option.

You can also show hidden files in an individual window by selecting Show Hidden Files, from the View options menu in the toolbar.

# Icon view defaults

## Default zoom level

You can make the icons and text larger or smaller by default in icon view using this option. You can also change this setting in an individual folder by clicking the View options button in the toolbar and selecting Zoom In, Zoom Out or Normal Size. If you frequently use a larger or smaller zoom level, you can set the default with this option.

In icon view, more or fewer captions are shown based on your zoom level.

# List view defaults

## Default zoom level

You can make the icons and text larger or smaller in list view using this option. You can also do this in an individual folder by clicking the View options button in the toolbar and selecting Zoom In, Zoom Out or Normal Size.