Programs opening all files if folder is double clicked

Programs like Preview and Word will open every file of the relevant type in a folder if when I go to open a file in them, I double click on a folder.

I've developed this habit from using the Cover Flow view in finder. But I hate it when I try to open a folder to look for a single file inside it and end up opening 82 pdfs I have in that folder.

Is there any way of removing this feature? I imagine it might be useful for some people, but my other use habits make it occasionally devastating!

Your post is a bit confusing. (But thanks for providing a thoughtful, descriptive title!)

Rephrasing, "when you go to open a file in programs like Preview and Word" means what? You already have such a program open?

Now, when you double click on a folder, does the folder open and then all the files inside it (of a certain type) open? Or does the folder not open first?

If you have only one such program open at the time you try to open a folder, will only the files of that type open? But if two programs are open, files of both types open?

I'm not finding either a Finder preference setting or a Mouse setting in OS10.5.8 that purposely enables this behavior. I wonder if the same thing would happen were you to log in under a different user account.

Need more info - I'm not clear where this is happening.
Please tell us exactly what and from where you are doing this or we can't recreate the scenario.

You have Preview open and go to the menu bar - File - Open?

You're in Finder - Coverflow view and click on a folder?

You mean if you have 85 documents in a folder and go to open the folder - 85 documents open all in separate windows or it shows you a list of the 85 documents contained within that folder?

Clarification

OKay to clarify: there is nothing wrong with my mac or software, it is just a feature that I find frustrating.

I will open preview, then go File, then open (or simply Cmd-O).

This brings up a finder-like window that we're all familiar with to browse through folders to find the document I'm looking for.

Now, to open a folder, so that I can go to a folder within that, my habit is to double click that folder (this is what you need to do in Cover Flow view to open a folder if you don't want it just to drop open below). However, in Preview (I've worked out this doesn't happen in Word 2008), when you do that, Preview will open EVERY pdf that is in that folder. In my case that is sometimes dozens of large pdfs which is exceptionally frustrating.

Is there a way I can change this feature? I don't open files this way often enough to develop good user habits but I do it often enough for it to be annoying.

(was my original post that confusing? It wasn't perfectly clear, but when you said I didn't give you enough to recreate the scenario, you gave two possibilities, one of which was the correct one. Having tried those, you would have discovered what I was talking about.)

Yes, your post was unclear. Bob made a good guess, similar to mine, but taken a step further. The source of the impediment to understanding is that you did not know, or use, the correct or accepted terminology. What you're talking about is called the Open/Save Dialog Box, or Window. Had you mentioned that, all would have been clear. As it was, we struggled to understand whether you meant that this was occurring in a Finder Window, which would be strange indeed. The Finder Window is where the majority of users open files from, I believe.

Ok, the behavior you describe is new to me, but I tried it, and mine does the same thing. I cannot find preferences to adjust for the Open/Save Dialog. I'm afraid that the best option is to train yourself to use one click.

You could decrease the double-click speed, but you might find that annoying for other things. To try that, go to System Preferences > Keyboard & Mouse > Mouse

First chance I've had to get back here. Busy day at work today.

The problem is that I do not have a Mac available to me during the day. So, experimenting was out of the question. With enough info to begin with, I probably could have sorted this one out without a Mac handy. You'll also find that many are not going to try to figure out what you're talking about in order to help, they'll just move on to the next post.

But alas, you are correct in that this is a feature of Preview which enables users to open multiple documents in a single window. As far as I am aware, there is no way to disable this function there except to learn not to double click.