ARCHIVED: In Windows, how can I control how my windows and folders behave?

This content has been archived, and is no longer maintained by Indiana University. Information here may no longer be accurate, and links may no longer be available or reliable.

In Windows 7, Vista, or XP, you can customize how your folders and windows look and behave using Folder Options.

On this page:

Accessing Folder Options
Controlling how folders and windows behave and look while you're browsing
Applying settings to all folders
Changing how your computer searches for files (Vista only)
Controlling file types (XP only)
Configuring Offline Files

Accessing Folder Options

To access Folder Options:

From the Start menu, open Control Panel.
In Windows 7, click Appearance and Personalization, and then Folder Options. In Windows Vista and XP, double-click Folder Options.

The Folder Options window in Windows 7 and Vista contains three tabs: General, View, and Search.

The Folder Options window in Windows XP contains four tabs: General, View, File Types, and Offline Files.

Controlling how folders and windows behave and look while you're browsing

The following options are available in the General tab of the Folder Options window:

To control how folders and windows are viewed, under "Tasks", use the radio buttons to choose from the following options:
Note: The "Tasks" section is not available in Windows 7.
- Show preview and filters (Vista) or Show common tasks in folders (XP)
- Use Windows classic folders
  This setting provides more space to display files because it hides panes you may not need. In 7 and Vista, it hides the Task Pane and makes the Category View option in Control Panel unavailable. In XP, it turns off the Navigation pane, Preview pane, and toolbar in all folders.
To control how folders open, under "Browse folders", choose from the following options:
- Open each folder in the same window
- Open each folder in its own window
To control clicking within folders, under "Click items as follows", choose from the following options:
- Single-click to open an item (point to select)
  If you choose this option, select one of the following:
  - Underline icon titles consistent with my browser
  - Underline icon titles only when I point at them
- Double-click to open an item (single-click to select)

Applying settings to all folders

To apply your current folder's settings to all folders on your computer:

Windows 7 and Vista

In Windows 7 and Vista, you can apply the view (such as Details or Icons) that you are using for one folder to all folders of the same type (e.g., music, contacts):

In Windows Explorer, navigate to the folder with the view you want to apply to all folders of that type.
From the Tools menu, click Folder Options....
Note: If you do not see the Tools menu, press the Alt key on your keyboard.
In the View tab, click Apply to Folders.

To further customize your folder view, edit the options under "Advanced settings:".

Windows XP

To apply your current folder settings to all folders on your computer, from the Folder Options window, click the View tab. In the "Folder views" section, click Apply to All Folders.

To further customize your folder view, edit the options under "Advanced settings:".

Changing how your computer searches for files (7 and Vista only)

The following options are available in the Search tab of the Folder Options window in Windows 7 and Vista:

To control the file types and locations that Windows searches, under "What to search" you can choose from:
- In indexed locations, search filenames and contents.
  In non-indexed locations, search file names only.
- Always search file names and contents (might be slow)
- Always search file names only (Vista only)
To control search options, under "How to search" you can select multiple items from:
- Include subfolders when typing in the Search box
- Find partial matches
- Use natural language search
- Don't use the Index when searching the file system (might be slow)
To control how Windows searches non-indexed locations, under "When searching non-indexed locations", you have two options:
- Include system directories
- Include compressed files (ZIP, CAB...)

You can also choose Restore Defaults.

Controlling file types

In XP, you can control which applications handle certain types of files on your computer using the File Types tab; see ARCHIVED: In Windows, how do I change what program opens a file type?

Configuring Offline Files

To keep copies on your computer of files stored on the network so that you can work with them while not connected to the Internet, enable Offline Files.

Windows 7 and Vista

To access options for Offline Files:

From the Start menu, open Control Panel.
In Windows 7, in the upper right corner of the Control Panel, choose Large icons or Small icons, and then open Sync Center. On the left, click Manage offline files.
In Vista, double-click Offline Files.

You will see four tabs:

General: Disable or enable Offline Files, use the Sync Center, check for sync conflicts or change sync settings, and view your offline files.
Disk Usage: View the amount of space that is used for storing offline files, change the limits of space these files can take up, and delete temporary files.
Encryption: Encrypt or decrypt your offline files.
Network: Change network settings for Offline Files use, such as working offline on slow connections and checking to verify the slow connection.

Windows XP

To enable Offline Files, from the Folder Options window, in the Offline Files tab, check Enable Offline Files, and then choose from the following settings:

Synchronize all offline files when logging in
Synchronize all offline files before logging off
Display a reminder every: (Use the accompanying drop-down menu to set how often to trigger a reminder.)
Create an Offline Files shortcut on the desktop
Encrypt offline files to secure data
Amount of disk space to use for temporary offline files: (Use the slider to set the amount of space you'd like to reserve.)

Additionally, these options are available for offline files:

To delete files from the Offline Files Folder, click Delete Files....
To view files in the Offline Files Folder, click View Files.
To set up how your computer behaves when the connection to another computer on the network is lost, click Advanced. Select either Notify me and begin working offline or Never allow my computer to go offline. Additionally, to set up how your computer behaves when a specific computer becomes unavailable, under "Exception list", click Add and then Browse to identify that computer. Click OK, and then OK again to save your changes.