# Folder Formats: Quick Guide

**URL:** https://resource.dopus.com/t/folder-formats-quick-guide/1313
**Category:** Opus FAQs
**Created:** [December 3, 2005, 4:29pm UTC](https://resource.dopus.com/t/folder-formats-quick-guide/1313 "2005-12-03T16:29:54Z")
**Posts on this page:** 1
**Showing post:** 1

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### Author: ![Leo](https://resource.dopus.com/user_avatar/resource.dopus.com/leo/32/69732_2.png) [@Leo](https://resource.dopus.com/u/Leo)
#### Post date: [December 3, 2005, 4:29pm UTC](https://resource.dopus.com/t/folder-formats-quick-guide/1313/1 "2005-12-03T16:29:54Z")

</div>

This FAQ explains how to make Opus use the same format in all normal directories.

There are two closely related FAQs which you may wish to read afterwards:

- **[Folder Formats: Special Folders (Computer, Network, etc.)](https://resource.dopus.com/t/folder-formats-special-folders-computer-network-etc/1311/1)**
- **[Folder Formats: Detailed Guide](https://resource.dopus.com/t/folder-formats-detailed-guide/11718)**

This FAQ assumes you are using Directory Opus 12 or above. There are separate versions for [Opus 9](https://resource.dopus.com/t/understand-and-configure-folder-formats-opus-9-and-earlier/11714) and for [Opus 10 & 11](https://resource.dopus.com/t/folder-formats-quick-guide-opus-10-11/26907).

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### What is a folder format?

Folder Formats define things like the view mode (Details, List, Thumbnails, etc.), which columns are displayed (Name, Size, Type, etc.) and the sort order.

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### To define the format used for all directories:

1. Open an Opus window, point it at C:\, and set it to use the view mode and columns that you want.

2. Open the **Folder Options** dialog (located in the **Folder** drop-down menu):

3. From there, click **Save** :  

4. Select **Save format for all folders (make this the default)**.

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### Other settings you may need to change:

You may also wish to check these settings to ensure the default folder format is always the one which gets used:

1. Go to **Settings -\> Preferences / Folders / Folder Behaviour**.

2. Go to **Preferences / Launching Opus / Default Lister**.

3. Go to **Preferences / Folders / Folder Formats**.

4. If the **Format Lock** is on when you open a window then it can complicate things. You probably want to turn the Format Lock **off** , and then re-save the Default Lister, Layout or Style you are using to open new windows.

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### Try your changes in a new window:

To test what you've done, close any open Opus windows, then open a new window and see if it is how you want it.

Always use a new window to check your folder format changes.

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### Video tutorial:

The tutorial on _Resizing File Display Columns_ covers some of the same ground as this FAQ, in video format. The tutorial also covers other related subjects in detail.

[![](https://resource.dopus.com/uploads/default/original/3X/a/e/aef6d3bce844423259e49a15b594430cca42aacd.jpeg "Directory Opus 12: Resizing File Display Columns, and Folder Formats.") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jS1Mvs46WH8)

Head to [12m20s](https://youtu.be/jS1Mvs46WH8?t=12m20s) in the video for the parts about _Saving Your Changes_ and _Finding the Folder Format_ for the parts most related to this FAQ. Or watch the whole video to learn about the different types of column resizing.

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_[View the full topic](https://resource.dopus.com/t/folder-formats-quick-guide/1313)._