Finder: Default View for Every Folder

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My Mac annoyances seem like endless...

Before I ask the question, I'd like you guys to know that I have searched. I am searching. All of the solutions I found were temporary for me.

Probably you guessed it: Overlapping icons in Finder.

No matter what I do, I can't seem to arrange the icons according to the grid. I think I'll have to go through all of the folders to set it right!

When I copy files, because I am not a robot, I can't fit them to the grid. They are all over the folder. And when I copy multiple files, most of the times, they are overlapping in a fashion that you wonder if you copied one file or the all. Then you drag a file. Oh, another file was under that one. Oh, and another!

So, I look for a way. First I learn that I can align the icons to the grid. This is done by clicking the gear icon on the Finder window, and then choose one of the options so they are arranged nicely.
But that is only for that folder. I open another one, and I see the files and folders overlapping.

Then I found another solution, which I thought would do it for me. You click that gear icon. Choose "Show View Options" Then a new window opens, you select "Align to the grid" and then you click "Use as Default". In my logic, that means that every folder in the computer should be aligned to grid, hence no overlapping folders.

But no. That fails as well. Again, overlapping icons everywhere. Here is a presentation:

letsmakehim.png


They are like "Hey, let's overlap and make him crazy, it'll be fun!" There are 4 (or maybe 5, who knows) icons in that image.

This is how my view options look like:
aligning.png

Now, "Şuna Göre Sırala: [Izgaraya hizala]" in the image means something like: "Order: [Align to grid]" and the grayed icon at the bottom of the image, "Saptammışlar Olarak Kullan" means "Use as Default".

But no.

You must have seen how annoyed I am. How do I solve this?

EDIT: I think I'll have to start to use Mac in English just to explain myself better here. Dammit.
 

vansmith

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You have it set to arrange the icons by "none" (no criteria). If you tell Finder to arrange according to some criteria (name, kind, etc.), it will align things according to a grid.
 
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Nope. It did not. I have tried that as well, but tried once again.
I set "arrange by name" now, and made it the default. But it did it only for that folder.

When I set it arrange the icons by name, the other option is grayed out (align to the grid). I can't align them to the grid. Neither they are arranged by name, if I don't go to that particular folder and set the same setting. And this is where I don't get it, set as default should mean all the folders will be arranged like this. Right?
 
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MacInWin

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In the "Şuna Göre Sırala: [Izgaraya hizala]" option, pick the one that is for Name, or anything other than "Align to Grid." Then make a change in either icon size or grid spacing and the "Use as Defaults" should go to black, Once it's not grey, you can click on it.
 
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Well, I know that. I changed it many times. And like you guess, it is grayed out because I clicked it before. I changed it when trying what vansmith suggested and clicked that too, but I still got no luck.

Is this some kind of bug? Because this shouldn't be a problem normally. I mean, it will just sort by name or other criterion and align them to the grid. Can't be hard.
 
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Use as Default should apply your settings to that folder and any folder inside (enclosed) of it UNLESS you have already fooled around with the settings in any of the enclosed folders.

So, here's what you do: Go to your Documents folder, fix the settings, check Use as Default. Now open each folder in Documents and see if its settings are good, if not repeat the above. Continue doing that for your entire folder structure.

You have to do it in the laborious fashion if you have adjusted settings in any lower level folders. Those you have not adjusted will conform automatically. If you started with a new Mac and did the first step, you'd be done.
 
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So that was my fault all this time? Then, I apologize, Mac OS. It wasn't you. It was me.

Well because I was so annoyed with it, I think I might have changed settings in more than one place :) So, unless I don't start with a fresh system, I am stuck with this?

After I read toMACsh's reply, I looked into it, and I found that a hidden file called DS_Store manages this things. Actually, it stands for Desktop Services Store (from wikipedia: .DS_Store - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia).
Well, I'm thinking, if I manage to see the hidden files, then do a search to find .DS_Store files, then delete them all, they would be created by the system instantly, with the default values. Right?
Is my idea doable? Will it cause any problems or does it have any bad effects?
 
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MacInWin

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Well, I personally don't like "all" type activities. How about you change the default at the highest level, then you can change any that you KNOW you messed with and leave it at that? Then if you come across one that isn't right, just set that one when you hit it. That's safer, I think, than whacking ALL .DS_Store files everywhere.
 
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Is my idea doable? Will it cause any problems or does it have any bad effects?

Yes, and no - I think. But I like Jake's approach better.

So that was my fault all this time? Then, I apologize, Mac OS. It wasn't you. It was me.
Well, Apple doesn't exactly try real hard to educate users before they dive in.
 
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There is a program called 'Onyx' that allows you to do all kinds of maintenance work.
In the tabs 'Automation' , there is an option Rebuilding / Appearance of Folder Contents that will remove these DS_store files. In the snapshot below, I checked only this option, although I normally have them all checked. Please note that it re-arranges your desktop items too (Desktop is also a folder..), but that shouldn't be a problem, since a desktop should not have too many icons on it anyhow..

Onyx is a program to clean up your system. It is well received by many forum users here...

Thymen

See this link

Onyx.png


Onyx at work.png
 

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