Enforce "List" view on all Windows Explorer views (including all Media folders)

user_524587 0
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I almost never use the "Details" View in Windows File Explorer as I mostly just want to see as many files and folder names on the page as I can, ("Type" or "File Modified" reduce the amount of files that I can see), so I want to default all my new systems to "List" view in all File Explorer windows (I do care about the above information, but much less frequently, so can change as required or use PowerShell to analyse filesystem details). So I want "List" view forcibly enabled everywhere at all times (in system folders, in document folders, in media folders - I don't want "Thumbnail" view for every film in a folder, it's useless information for me 99% of the time!). This is quite awkward to achieve in Windows, as I have to go into a folder of each view type, then set it to "List" view, then "Apply to all folders", but it must be doable by PowerShell I think...

I would like to know how to achieve "List" view in all Windows (including for Media folders etc) via PowerShell / registry so that I can setup the system to my preferences, and equally, this question applies for people that prefer "Details" view everywhere and how they might achieve that?

This question is related to Configure Windows Explorer Folder Options through Powershell but I can't ask it under there as if I did so my question would be deleted as off-topic since he seemed to only be asking about Hidden Files and Extensions, so I have to create a new question. That questions answer is possibly a clue towards enforcing "List" view, but I've not been able to find the right settings yet (the below enables Hidden files and folders and makes file extensions visible, and these are also settings that I find useful and apply to all systems):

$key = 'HKCU:\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced'
Set-ItemProperty $key Hidden 1
Set-ItemProperty $key HideFileExt 0
Set-ItemProperty $key ShowSuperHidden 1
Stop-Process -processname explorer
customization windows-explorer explorer registry powershell
1 Answers

For anyone that finds this page, I finally found a comprehensive solution for this from another page, that seems to work perfectly:

# *** Change the value of $Backup to the path of an existing folder
# *** where you want to registry backups saved to.
$backup   = "C:\Users\$env:USERNAME\Documents\Backup\Folder View Defaults"
# ----------------------------------------------------------------
# Paths for PowerShell commands use the registry Get-PSDrives, hence the ':'
$src = 'HKLM:\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\FolderTypes'
$dst = 'HKCU:\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\FolderTypes'
$TVs = "$dst\*\TopViews\*"
# ----------------------------------------------------------------
# Paths for reg.exe commands do not use a ':'
$bagMRU   = 'HKCR\Local Settings\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Shell\BagMRU'
$bags     = 'HKCR\Local Settings\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Shell\Bags'
$defaults = 'HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Streams\Defaults'
# ----------------------------------------------------------------
# Backup & then delete saved views and 'Apply to folders' defaults
reg export $BagMru "$Backup\bagMRU.reg"
reg export $Bags "$Backup\bags.reg"
reg export $Defaults "$Backup\defaults.reg"
reg delete $bagMRU /f
reg delete $bags /f
reg delete $defaults /f
reg delete ($dst.Replace(':','')) /f
#------------------* The Magic is here *--------------------------
# First, we copy HKLM\...\FolderTypes to HKCU\...\FolderTypes
Copy-Item $src "$(Split-Path $dst)" -Recurse
# Set all 'LogicalViewMode' values to the desired style
# Edit "$key2edit.SetValue('LogicalViewMode', 4)" as desired
# Use: 1 = Details, 2 = Tiles, 3 = Icons, 4 = List, 5 = Content

Get-ChildItem $TVs | % {
    $key2edit = (get-item $_.PSParentPath).OpenSubKey($_.PSChildName, $True);
    $key2edit.SetValue('LogicalViewMode', 4)   # <== Set this value to the view required
    $key2edit.Close()    
}
Get-Process Explorer | Stop-Process
user_5245870
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