Turn Off Group by Date in Windows Downloads

Starting with the Windows 10 May 2019 Update (version 1903), Microsoft set the Downloads folder to group files by Date modified by default, and Windows 11 kept that behavior. When you open Downloads, your files sit under collapsible headings like Today, Yesterday, Earlier this week, Last month, and A long time ago. If your Windows 11 Downloads folder is grouped by date and you want to turn it off, you change the grouping to (None) so File Explorer shows every file in one continuous list.

Date grouping is meant to put recent downloads at the top, but many people find it gets in the way. The headings add clutter, collapsed groups can hide files, and sorting by name or type only reorders files inside each date group instead of across the whole folder. If you're looking for an installer you downloaded weeks ago or checking for duplicates, a flat list is usually easier to work with.

Grouping is only a display setting. Turning it off doesn't move, rename, or delete anything, and turning it back on brings the headings back. If you want your downloads actually organized by date, type, or project, you need real folders, either filed by hand or created by an automated tool.

File Explorer saves view settings for each folder, including sort order, grouping, and layout. The Downloads folder comes with Group by set to Date modified. To turn it off in Windows 11, open Downloads, select Sort in the command bar, point to Group by, and choose (None). You can also right-click an empty area of the folder, select Group by, then (None). In Windows 10, use the Group by menu on the View tab or the same right-click option.

To use the same flat view in other folders, set up the view you want, then open See more (the three-dot menu) > Options, select the View tab, and click Apply to Folders. This applies the current view to all folders that share the same folder template. Windows stores these preferences in your user profile. Some users find that grouping comes back after a major Windows feature update or after resetting folder views. If that happens, repeat the steps above.

Removing grouping changes how files look, not how they're stored. If you want your downloads physically organized, Sortio works on the files themselves. You describe what you want in a natural language prompt, such as 'move installers into an Apps folder and put PDFs into folders by month,' and it creates the folders and moves the files. Smart Folders can keep Downloads organized automatically. Files are backed up before any changes, so you can revert them.