Mac Setup

Keep folders on top

When sorting by name, show folders first in alphabetical order, followed by files in alphabetical order.

Open the interactive guide

Finder

Settings path

Finder › Settings › Advanced › Keep folders on top

Steps

  1. Open a Finder window.
  2. Look at the menu bar in the upper-left corner of the screen and confirm that “Finder” appears there.
  3. Click Finder in the menu bar, then click Settings.
  4. Click Advanced.
  5. Under Keep folders on top, turn on “In windows when sorting by name” and “On Desktop.”
  6. Sort a Finder window and the desktop by name, then confirm that folders appear before files.

Before

When sorting by name, folders and files share one alphabetical sequence, so folders can appear between files of different types.

After

When sorting by name in a Finder window or on the desktop, folders appear first in alphabetical order, followed by files in alphabetical order.

Undo the change

  • Open a Finder window, then click Finder > Settings > Advanced in the upper-left menu bar and turn off the two options under Keep folders on top.

Sources and version notes

More settings