Windows Explorer has a flaw. When a location is viewed which containts folders and/or files, it should be able to display the full name of all the folders and/or files. But the way the width of the column which displays the name (and other columns as well) has only a very crude, primitive level of control whereby it basically only has one width setting (actually one for each file type such as music, videos, general, etc. can be set).
The best solution would be to have a couple parameters which can be set:
1. Automatically resize column to fit (selectable for any or all colmuns)
2. Maximum column width. Will not auto-expand the column beyond a specified width, useful because sometimes there might be folders or files with extremely long name which would be impractical to attempt to display.
I found an interesting thread in the social.technet.microsoft.com forum on this.
Here are some salient comments:
Every time I view a folder I have to do a “size column to fit” on the file name column so I can see the full file names. I don’t understand why file explorer doesn’t fit this column properly automatically. The file name column is the MOST important piece of information (to me at least) on this screen and with this age of wide monitors, it should know I am using a wide enough screen and adjust the columns accordingly instead of wasting all that blank space after the last column.
So much for improving productivity!
It is a huge annoyance to have to resize a column each time it is accessed to see fully its contents.
And it is not unresonable to expect that any ‘modern’ operating system, e.g. Windows 7, should do this automatically. Calculating is what computers do.
To add insult to injury, if you select ‘apply to all folders’ after asking nicely for eplorer to size the column to fit, instead of all columns being automatically resized they are set to that exact column width.
It is like working with the local idiot!
I agree. No matter how big you make the folder window when viewing as Details, the Name column remains at about 18-22 characters only! This is STUPID! I have a 19″ monitor with loads of blank space and when viewing files as details it DOES NOT AUTO EXPAND.
You have to use List, Tile, or Icons to see the full name automatically.
Viewing as Content does the same thing, chopping off the filename after about 42 characters with no way to expand it eventhough there is tonnes of space on the screen. How is that useful in any way?!?
Yes, in Details, you can drag the name box to be larger and it remembers the size of the column. But I can’t spend 100s of hours doing this to all my folders.
p.s.
There is a Size Column To Fit option and Size All Columns To Fit option (which only change the column you are on or the ones displayed in the folder.) What is needed is a Size All Columns To Fit in All Sub-Folders option. 🙂
i simply hate what explorer has become. it is like having a butler that instead of taking your orders, actually bosses you around:
it hides files and folders, hides file extensions, hides actual folders and exposes bunch of “special folders”, changes view and visible columns merely because it figured that there may be change in content of the folder (for example if it contains media files, switches to thumb view, hides my columns and shows something else like “Rating”, “Genre” etc., completely ignoring what I want to see), even if it does not change columns, it keeps on adjusting their width (it is like bad joke with button moving around so that cannot be clicked on), continues to waste screen space (top bar of every window is fatter than ever and yet, it is completely blank, one can’t even see title any more; instead it shows some blur that is nothing but strain for eyes, more heat from GPU and thus increased battery drain). on start explorer panes don’t even match, left one is on “Desktop”, right one is showing “Libraries”. They get synced eventually when user clicks on item(s) in one of them. There is additional and ‘conveniently’ nameless bar with “organize, etc. that can’t be tucked away or hidden. This too keeps on shuffling it’s content so one has to keep reading and looking for right link, yet there is no ‘..’ icon in the right pane and even level up icon is not always shown. There is constant shuffle in the Start Menu, Task Bar, Notification area etc. It is very annoying to look for things that jump around. To reach things quickly, I expect them to be always in same place, not shuffling or stacking.
Wow. Really just so typical of Microsoft’s response in these situations. A bunch of users have a problem and see a need for a feature or function, and say so. Rather than address the issue, a Microsoft “expert” chimes in (while seeming to totally miss the point) to tell the users that they’re asking a dumb question, or that “you don’t need that”. Then, somebody higher up at Microsoft marks the non-response as THE answer, and they totally ignore all the people shouting for a fix.
“Auto-size columns to fit” should have been done long ago!
Someone in the thread did point on that the key command “Ctrl +” will cause the columns to be auto-resized, but of course that is not a permanent solution and has only a crude level of control.
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