Sort files and folders
You can sort files in different ways in a folder, for example by sorting them in order of date or file size. See Ways of sorting files below for a list of common ways to sort files. See Views preferences in Files for information on how to change the default sort order.
The way that you can sort files depends on the folder view that you are using. You can change the current view using the list/grid button in the toolbar.
Grid view
To sort files in a different order, click the view options button in the toolbar and choose A-Z, Z-A, Last Modified, First Modified, Size, or Type.
As an example, if you select A-Z, the files will be sorted by their names, in alphabetical order. See Ways of sorting files for other options.
List view
To sort files in a different order, click one of the column headings in the file manager. For example, click Type to sort by file type. Click the column heading again to sort in the reverse order.
For more sort options, click the view options button in the toolbar.
In list view, you can show columns with more attributes and sort on those columns. Click the view options button in the toolbar, pick Visible Columns… and select the columns that you want to be visible. You will then be able to sort by those columns. See Files list columns preferences for descriptions of available columns.
Ways of sorting files
- A-Z
Sorts alphabetically by the name of the file.
- Z-A
Sorts alphabetically by the name of the file in reverse order.
- Last Modified
Sorts by the date and time that a file was last changed. Sorts from oldest to newest.
- First Modified
Sorts by the date and time that a file was last changed. Sorts from newest to oldest.
- Size
Sorts by the size of the file (how much disk space it takes up). Sorts from smallest to largest by default.
- Type
Sorts alphabetically by the file type. Files of the same type are grouped together, then sorted by name.