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Sorting, Filtering & Grouping

Use sort, filter, and group controls to reshape a folder without moving files on disk. All three live in the View & arrange strip under the path bar, the same row as view mode and saved views.

Open the controls

  1. Open a folder in the file explorer.
  2. On the path bar, open View & arrange.
  3. Use the Sort, Filter, and Group buttons in the strip below.

Each button opens a menu with the options for that category.

Sort

Sort controls which order rows appear in.

Standard sort fields include:

  • Name
  • Size
  • Created
  • Modified
  • Type
  • Extension

Inside a Vial, you can also sort by your custom properties (rating, dates, status, and so on).

Multi-column sort: add more than one sort level (Add sort in the Sort menu). The first row is the primary sort, and later rows break ties. Use Reset to return to a single name sort.

Click a sort row to flip ascending / descending.

Filter

Filters hide rows that do not match your conditions.

  1. Open the Filter menu.
  2. Add filter and choose a field, operator, and value.
  3. Add more conditions as needed. When you have multiple filters, combine them with AND or OR.

Standard fields (name, size, dates, type, extension) work in any folder. Inside a Vial, you can filter by properties too, including rating and tags.

Clear Filters removes all conditions.

Filter scope

Filter scope controls how far filters reach:

  • Current folder: conditions apply to items listed at this path.
  • Flatten (recursive): when filters are active, matching can include files in subfolders (depending on the folder and filters in use).

Scope is saved with saved views and can be set as a default in Default behaviors. In a nested Vial, Flat View in the Vial menu flattens indexed files across subfolders for browsing and filtering.

You can also hide files and show directories only (or the reverse) as part of a saved view setup, which helps with folder-only workflows.

Group

Grouping clusters rows under headers you can expand or collapse.

  1. Open the Group menu.
  2. Choose None or a property: Extension, Type, Created, Modified, or a Vial property.

In Details view, group headers stick below the column header as you scroll. Click a header to collapse or expand that group.

Collapsed groups are remembered on the active saved view automatically.

Save your setup

When you like a combination of sort, filters, grouping, view mode, and scope:

  • Create or update a saved view to name and restore it later.
  • Set explorer defaults in Default behaviors for folders that do not have saved views yet.

Sort, filters, grouping, scope, and show-files settings are part of the saved view template. Change them, then Save view settings while a saved view pill is active. Group collapse state saves on its own when a saved view is active.