View Options

View Options
Mac Tip #17/22-Aug-2001

Now you can arrange to view your window how you like: by icon, as a list or whatever, as explained in earlier Tips. Let’s say you view it by icon and you have the icons all arranged neatly in alphabetical order. Perhaps you add a new file, and now the alphabetical order is all messed up.

You could arrange the icons by name again and then again next time you add a file.

Or you could use View Options to keep your files arranged the way you like them.

First arrange your window how you like it. Now go to the View Menu and choose View Options …

Check the Radio Button called Keep Arranged: and then from the pop-up list choose how you like your window arranged: by Name, by Date or whatever and click OK.

Now you’ll notice an extra icon in the top left corner of your window, just below the title bar. It looks like a small square of dots. This icon shows that the window will stay arranged in the way you’ve set it.

If you now try to move the icons around in the window they won’t go. They seem to move but when you let go of the icon it springs right back to where it came from.

Pretty handy, eh!

To undo this “keeping arranged” just make sure that window is open and go back to View Options … under the View menu. Under Icon Arrangement choose None.