Folder formats changing in a single tab scope

So far I have created quite a few folder formats based on wildcards, regex and so on as well as some static one-folder-only ones.
When a folders falls under any of the rules all is well. It gets the format it needs.
If I open a new tab whose path does not match a rule I get the user-default format - still good.
However, inside the same tab, when I navigate from a folder matching format rules (which already had its format applied to) to another with a path not matching folder format rules I would expect for it to revert to user-default format - which it doesn't. Instead I'm stuck with the same format that was active before navigating away from it.
Format lock is disabled as I believe it does the opposite thing to what I need.
Either the whole thing seems quirky or I am the one who doesn't really get it.

Is it the same tab you had just used to edit another format?

If so, try closing the window and opening a new one. That ensures only the saved rules are applied to folders, not any temporary changes made via the Folder Options window. (More about temporary folder formats can be found in the advanced folder formats faq.)

Not edit. They're already saved as presets and just switching. But I expect the format to revert to user-defaults instead of not doing anything when it no longer matches the rule in the same tab.

Example:
tab1 = navigate to Desktop (preset is applied - sorted by date created, descending, hides .lnk files, grouped by date)
tab1 = navigate to C: (desktop preset still in effect, user-default is no group, sort by name)

Other than that a script that would execute OnPathChanged would have to enumerate all formats and test/match them on the new path and if they all fail would revert to user-default. Sounds a bit overcomplicated and needlessly expensive for what I'm looking for.

When the format seems to be the wrong one, what does it say if you hover the mouse over the format lock on the status bar? That should tell you where the current format comes from.

It says "Format comes from: Edited by user".
Simple reproduction:
I go to Desktop which has the Desktop format only for that folder.
Pop out the favorites menu > choose any other folder which has no format specified explicitly (not a subfolder of desktop either)
The other folder inherits the desktop format.