View settings for This PC in Save Dialogs

Windows 10 20H2

I'm looking for a registry setting to change the default view for "This PC" in Save dialogs, since Explorer ignores changes to the view in that context.

Just to be clear, there is no issue if I open "This PC" from the desktop and change the view. In the example below, I changed to Details with grouping set to None. These changes stick just fine.


If I'm in an app, such as Notepad and go to Save As, "This PC" will start with the Tiles view grouped by type. This is expected because it's a different view of "This PC". However, if I then change the view settings for "This PC" within the Save dialog, those changes don't stick. Below is the screen shot where I've changed the view for "This PC" within the Save dialog to Details and no grouping...


As soon as I click on another folder and then click back on "This PC", the view reverts back to Tiles and group by type.


This is inconsistent with typical Explorer behavior which does save the view you select (whether it reverts back later is another issue). I tested with several user accounts, so I'm pretty sure this behavior is not unique to my machine, but it would great to get confirmation, if nothing else.

Thank you Denis. The problem was in indeed in the registry keys you cited and I had managed to create the same condition in all three test user accounts on my machine. I should have created a new user from scratch. Had I done that, I would have seen that the error was mine and avoided embarrassing myself here. Oops.

Thanks Denis, that's sweet, but given my experience, and the fact I'm working on a script to globally set Explorer folder views, a little embarrassment is in order. Anyhow, no psychological damage done - I can laugh it off.

I caused the issue with this registry setting:

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\Local Settings\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Shell\Bags\AllFolders\Shell]
"FolderType"=""

If FolderType is null, or any unrecognized string, you'll get the behavior described above.

This value can be set to "NotSpecified" or "Generic" to set folder type generic globally.

Here's a teaser screen shot of the script I'm working on:


Les

Yes, definitely, using a tool to backup and restore Bags, BagMRU, etc. does makes life a lot easier.

The new tool I'm working on is built around the method of setting up the folder view defaults in HKCU, so any new folder gets your preferred view instead of Microsoft's defaults. Also, if Explorer hiccups and resets a view, it will reset it to your defaults. Thanks to Keith Miller for the idea and base code (https://www.tenforums.com/attachment...ewdefaults.txt). I've taken it quite a bit further and optimized the speed (export, regex, import is much faster the walking the tree).

I've marked this as unsolved because I'm still looking for a registry entry in HKLM that provides Explorer with the default views for "This PC" and "Network". The default views for folders and dialogs are stored in HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\FolderTypes, but not the views for "This PC" and "Network". Those items start off in Tiles view and I'm aware of how the user's selected views are stored in the BagMRU/Bags keys, but I would really like to find where the defaults are stored.

This can then be used in the global views setting script I'm working on. If I can't find the source of the default Tiles view, I'll be left with having to create BagMRU/Bags values, which is not ideal.

Try3 said:

I was satisfied when I learnt how to back up my folder view settings for each file type so I could easily restore them or copy them straight into a new computer.
How to Backup and restore Default folder views - TenForums
This made controlling folder views so reliable that I had no motivation to try going any further.

Try3 said:

I just backup & restore default folder views for each file type.
Nothing to do with Bags, BagsMRU, ....

Thanks. I read your article and did some testing. It's certainly a great way to backup and restore settings. I looked at working with the Streams key for making specific view changes and, while it can be done, it's a pain to figure out all the hex entries. There are some partial forensics out there, but some further reverse engineering would be needed. I'll probably stick with the FolderTypes key for my script.

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Brake4bots said:

I've marked this as unsolved because I'm still looking for a registry entry in HKLM that provides Explorer with the default views for "This PC" and "Network".

After many hours of web searches and analysis using procmon, I've still not been able to determine where Explorer gets those defaults settings. It's possible they're just baked into the Explorer code. I'll just mark this as solved and move on. Thanks.