Microsoft has released a Build 26200.8313 (KB5083631) for the Release Preview Channel, bringing a small but important fix to File Explorer. The update makes folder view settings consistent, so changes like sorting by name, turning off “Group by date”, adjusting icon size, or switching layouts now stay the same no matter how you open that folder.This also applies when folders are opened from outside File Explorer. If you open Downloads from a browser or another app, your preferences will now carry over instead of resetting.File Explorer finally keeps folder views consistent everywhereCustomizing folder views or sorting files in a folder in File Explorer has never really stayed the same way you expect it to.The View size for files in my Downloads folder is set to “Extra large icons”. But when I click “Open containing folder” from Edge Downloads, the File Explorer Downloads folder will open with all file icons set to show “Details”.Downloads folder is set to View files and folders as Extra large icons, but opening from browser shows them as listThe same holds for sorting files by Name or Grouping by date. Opening the same folder from another app would have a different sorting style than the one I set. At this point, I have come to be at peace with this behavior. But I’m still glad to know that Microsoft is finally fixing it.With the latest update, Windows 11 fixes inconsistent folder views in the File Explorer. So, folder view preferences should now stay consistent no matter how the folder is opened. If you turn off “Group by date” in Downloads, it stays off even when you open the same folder from a browser or another app. It also applies to sorting, icon size, and overall layout.Windows 11 update KB5083631 with Build 26200.8313 for Release Preview Channel“Improves folder view consistency so customized settings (such as sorting files by name or adjusting icon size) now apply across all ways you open a folder. When you open the same folder from another app, such as a web browser, your preferences persist automatically,”, says Microsoft in the Windows Insider blog.Why was this happening?To be clear, this was not a bug. File Explorer does remember folder view settings, but not in a way that works consistently everywhere. The problem shows up when the same folder is opened through different paths.File Explorer doesn’t save a single universal layout for a folder. It stores view preferences in the registry under the Shell Bags system (Bags and BagMRU keys), and those settings are associated with how the folder is accessed, not the folder itself.When you open a folder directly in File Explorer, it uses one shell context. When you open the same folder from another app, like a browser, using “Show in folder”, it can be resolved through a different shell invocation path. In some cases, Windows treats that as a separate view instance, so it doesn’t always apply the same stored “Bag”.This has been a long-standing limitation in how Windows handles folder views.More File Explorer improvements are coming to WindowsKB5083631 also brings a few other useful improvements to File Explorer.Launch performance has been improved, the white flash in dark mode has been reduced, and more archive formats are now supported, including uu, cpio, xar, and nupkg. There are also reliability improvements to explorer.exe when closing windows.Since all of this has come to the Release Preview channel, we expect it to roll out to regular Windows 11 PCs by May, including the folder consistency update.Moreover, Microsoft is also testing a modern search bar in File Explorer, but it’s unclear when it’ll begin rolling out, as it’s available in the Canary preview builds.Microsoft has already promised major updates to the File Explorer, including performance improvements, all slated to come later in 2026.The post Windows 11 finally fixes inconsistent folder views in File Explorer appeared first on Windows Latest