Saving Views in the Finder

March 21, 2007 - 7:59am

Dave asks:

Question

Hi there, is there a way to alter the default width of columns when in column view?

Answer

In fact, there is, but it is one of the most irritatingly inconsistent behaviors in all of Mac OS X. In theory, when you alter a view in the Finder, these new settings are saved when you close that window. In reality, it only semi-consistently saves it if you have no other windows open and you made a change while there were no other windows open.

So, basically, you have to do this:

Close all Finder windows
Navigate to the window you want to manipulate
Close any intermediate windows you had to open to get there
Make the view change
Close the window

Now, you asked about columns, which carry a special caveat. You see, the finder will not remember the change you make to a single column; it’ll only remember it if you use the ‘option’ key while dragging the slider so that it modifies all columns in that view.

Convenient, huh?

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March 21, 2007 - 3:35pm

purduejim said

Well, I voted this an excellent tip on the assumtion it worked, but it did not work for me at first. Got a window all lined up the way I need to see it, in list view, with just the first 2 columns shpowing, at a width and height I prefer. Followed all the directions but on closing and re-opening, back to 3 column view!

Then I remembered a Finder Preference, “Open new windows in column view”. I unchecked it and it worked! Well, to me that is not a “new window” but an existing folder, but it worked! Thanks for the nifty tip!

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March 23, 2007 - 11:36am

davidr said

Thank You, Thank You!

I have been wondering about this for, uh, years?! now.

Blogged it: http://www.theconsultant.net/archives/2007/03/23/setting-the-default-width-for-columns-in-the-finder/

Cheers,

Dave

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