Ultimate Guide: Setting Up Finders & Subfolders in Mac OS

Ultimate Guide: Setting Up Finders & Subfolders in Mac OS

Stephen Lv12

Ultimate Guide: Setting Up Finders & Subfolders in Mac OS

What to Know

  • Default view: OpenFinder >View icon >View menu >Show View Options >Use as Defaults .
  • Folder view: Open folder in Finder >View icon >View menu >Show View Options >Always open in X view .
  • UseAutomator to assign a group of sub-folders to the same Finder view as parent folder.

This article describes how to adjust Finder settings so that you see folders and sub-folders exactly as you wish in Mac OS X 10.4 and later.

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How to Set the Default Finder View

Here’s how to set theMac Finder view default.

  1. Open a Finder window by clicking theFinder icon in the Dock.
  2. In the Finder window that opens, select one of the fourView icons in the Finder window toolbar, or select the Finder view type you want from the Finder’sView menu.
    Use your keyboard to switch Finder views by holdingCommand and pressing the numbers1 through4 .
    Finder views in macOS
  3. After you select a Finder view, chooseShow View Options from the Finder’sView menu.
    The keyboard shortcut isCommand+J . The Show View Options command in macOS
  4. In the View Options dialog box that opens, set any parameters you wish for the selected view type, and then click theUse as Defaults button near the bottom of the dialog box.
    The “Use As Defaults” button won’t appear if you’re currently using Column View.
    The Use as Defaults button
  5. That’s it. You have defined the default view for the Finder to display whenever you open a folder that hasn’t had a specific view assigned to it.

How to Permanently Set a Folder View in Finder

You’ve set a system-wide default to using forFinder windows , but that doesn’t mean you can’t assign a different view to specific folders.

  1. Open aFinder window and browse to a folder whose view option you wish to set.
  2. Use one of the four view buttons at the top of the folder window to set the view for the folder. FX PRO (Gold Robot + Silver Robot(Basic Package)) Finder views in macOS
  3. To make it permanent, selectView, Show View Options from the Finder menu or pressCommand+J on your keyboard. The Show View Options command in macOS
  4. Place a checkmark in the box labeledAlways open in X view (where X is the name of the current Finder view). The "Always open in" option in View Options
  5. This folder will always use the view you just selected whenever you open it.

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How to Automatically Assign a Finder View to All Sub-Folders

The Finder has no method for easily setting a group of subfolders to the same Finder view as the parent folder. If you want all subfolders to match the parent folder, you could spend a few hours manually assigning views to each of the sub-folders, but luckily, there’s a better way.

You can do this quickly usingAutomator , an application Apple includes with macOS to automate workflows, set folder view options for the Pictures folder, and propagate those settings to all of its sub-folders. Here’s what to do.

  1. Start by browsing to the parent folder whose viewing options you wish to set and propagate to all of its sub-folders.
    Don’t worry if you already set the parent folder’s view options earlier. It’s always a good idea to double-check a folder’s settings before you propagate them to all of its sub-folders.
  2. Use theview icons to set the view you want to use for this folder and its subfolders.
    The View option icons
  3. Open theShow View Options window by selecting it under theView menu or pressingCommand+J on your keyboard.
    The Show View Options command in macOS
  4. Place a checkmark in the box labeledAlways open in X view . ![The "Always open in" option in View Options](https://www.lifewire.com/thmb/4DbfFW-ZOUY0COxAwi8ys2lPXXo=/1500x0/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():format(webp)/004-set-finder-views-for-folders-and-subfolders-2260912-0ec13e3d03ef4a6cac9cad6099c28e78.jpg)
  5. Once the parent folder’s Finder view is set, launchAutomator , located in theApplications folder. vMix Pro - Software based live production. vMix Pro includes everything in vMix 4K plus 8 channels of Replay and 8 vMix Call
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    Automator in Finder
  6. If this option appears, selectNew Document when Automator opens.
    In Automator for earlier versions of macOS, this window doesn’t open. If you don’t see New Document, skip to step 7.
    The New Document button in Automator
  7. Select theWorkflow template from the list. The Workflow template in Automator
  8. Click theChoose button. ZoneAlarm Pro Antivirus + Firewall NextGen The Choose button in Automator
  9. Select theFiles & Folders item in theLibrary of available actions.
    The Files & Folders option in Library
  10. In the second column, grab theGet Specified Finder Items action and drag it to the workflow pane.
    Drag the "Get Specified Finder Items" command into the workspace
  11. Click theAdd button in theGet Specified Finder Items action you just placed in the workflow pane.
    The Add button in Automator workflow
  12. Browse to the folder whose view settings you wish to propagate to all of its sub-folders, and then click theAdd button.
    The Add button
  13. Return to the Library pane and drag theSet Folder Views action to theWorkflow pane. Drop the action just below theGet Specified Finder Items action already in theWorkflow pane.
    Drag the "Set Folder View" action to the workspace
  14. Use the options displayed in theSet Folder Views action to tweak how you want the specified folder to display. It should already show the current folder’s configuration for views, but you can fine-tune some parameters here. Jutoh Plus - Jutoh is an ebook creator for Epub, Kindle and more. It’s fast, runs on Windows, Mac, and Linux, comes with a cover design editor, and allows book variations to be created with alternate text, style sheets and cover designs. Jutoh Plus adds scripting so you can automate ebook import and creation operations. It also allows customisation of ebook HTML via templates and source code documents; and you can create Windows CHM and wxWidgets HTB help files. The Folder View drop-down menu in Automator
  15. Place a checkmark in theApply Changes to Subfolders box. Take advantage of PREMIUM features for 12 months.
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    The "Apply Changes to Sub-folders" box
  16. Once you have everything configured the way you want it, click theRun button in the top-right corner. The Run button
  17. TheFinder View options will copy to all sub-folders.

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  • Title: Ultimate Guide: Setting Up Finders & Subfolders in Mac OS
  • Author: Stephen
  • Created at : 2024-08-19 15:06:43
  • Updated at : 2024-08-20 15:06:43
  • Link: https://tech-recovery.techidaily.com/ultimate-guide-setting-up-finders-and-subfolders-in-mac-os/
  • License: This work is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0.