If you have recently used Windows 10 File Explorer Search box to find a file, then you may have noticed that the results are always displayed in Content View, and even if you change the view to detail, as soon as you close the window and search again, the content will be again displayed in Content View. This is a very annoying issue which seems to bug users ever since Windows 10 came. Another problem is the filename column is way too small in Content View and there isn’t any way of expanding it. So the user then has to change the view to Details which sometimes results in the search running again.
The problem with this solution is to change the default folder view of search results permanently to user choice without changing it manually every time they use the File Explorer search. So without wasting any time, let’s see How to Change Default Folder View of Search Results on Windows 10 with the help of the below-listed guide.
Change Default Folder View of Search Results on Windows 10
Make sure to create a restore point, just in case something goes wrong.
1. Open Notepad file, then copy and paste the following code as it is:
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[-HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Classes\Local Settings\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Shell\BagMRU]
[-HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Classes\Local Settings\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Shell\Bags]
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Classes\Local Settings\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Shell\Bags\AllFolders\Shell\{7fde1a1e-8b31-49a5-93b8-6be14cfa4943}]
"LogicalViewMode"=dword:00000001
"Mode"=dword:00000004
2. Click File from notepad menu then select Save As.
3. From Save as type drop-down selects All Files.
4. Name the file as Searchfix.reg (.reg extension is very important).
5. Navigate to where you want to save the file preferably desktop and then click Save.
6. Now right-click on this registry file and select Run as Administrator.
7. Reboot your PC to save changes.
Set Details view for Music, Pictures, Documents and Videos search folders
1. Open Notepad file, then copy and paste the following code as it is:
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[-HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Classes\Local Settings\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Shell\BagMRU]
[-HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Classes\Local Settings\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Shell\Bags]
;Generic Search Results
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Classes\Local Settings\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Shell\Bags\AllFolders\Shell\{7fde1a1e-8b31-49a5-93b8-6be14cfa4943}]
"LogicalViewMode"=dword:00000001
"Mode"=dword:00000004
;Pictures Search Results
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Classes\Local Settings\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Shell\Bags\AllFolders\Shell\{4dcafe13-e6a7-4c28-be02-ca8c2126280d}]
"LogicalViewMode"=dword:00000001
"Mode"=dword:00000004
;Music Search Results
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Classes\Local Settings\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Shell\Bags\AllFolders\Shell\{71689ac1-cc88-45d0-8a22-2943c3e7dfb3}]
"LogicalViewMode"=dword:00000001
"Mode"=dword:00000004
;Documents Search Results
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Classes\Local Settings\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Shell\Bags\AllFolders\Shell\{36011842-dccc-40fe-aa3d-6177ea401788}]
"LogicalViewMode"=dword:00000001
"Mode"=dword:00000004
;Videos Search Results
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Classes\Local Settings\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Shell\Bags\AllFolders\Shell\{ea25fbd7-3bf7-409e-b97f-3352240903f4}]
"LogicalViewMode"=dword:00000001
"Mode"=dword:00000004
2. Click File from notepad menu then select Save As.
3. From Save as type drop-down select All Files.
4. Name the file as Search.reg (.reg extension is very important).
5. Navigate to where you want to save the file preferably desktop and then click Save.
6. Now right-click on this registry file and select Run as Administrator.
7. Reboot your PC to save changes.
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That’s it you have successfully learned How to Change Default Folder View of Search Results on Windows 10 but if you still have any questions regarding this post then feel free to ask them in the comment’s section.
After running the reg modification for typical search results (add Path, remove Folder), as soon as I open Windows Explorer the settings in the Registry revert back to default.
I’ve been looking for this ever since I upgraded to Windows 10!
One other related question: Is there a way to set the Columns to use Folder Path instead of Folder?
Drives me nuts to see the parent folder first, and then the rest of the path.
Thanks
Good question! have you been able to find a solution to this yet?
Is there one person in the world who would like a way “File FolderOfFile d: \ path_to_one_level_up_of_folderOfFile?
What are these Micorsoft deceptions forced for?
Are these instructions still current? When I right click on the .reg file, I am not seeing “Run as Administrator” as an option, but simply double clicking the file asks me if I want to all the file to make system changes.
Yes, it is still current working. But you don’t need to force to run as administrator, at least here I only ran the reg file directly and Windows/UAC requested to accept to run it with administrator rights. I rebooted the system and the search started to show the file detail view as liked.
Will this code also work for Windows 11 Pro?
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[-HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Classes\Local Settings\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Shell\BagMRU]
[-HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Classes\Local Settings\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Shell\Bags]
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Classes\Local Settings\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Shell\Bags\AllFolders\Shell\{7fde1a1e-8b31-49a5-93b8-6be14cfa4943}]
“LogicalViewMode”=dword:00000001
“Mode”=dword:00000004