Mar 26

Default size of Windows Explorer in Vista

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An annoying thing that occured to me when starting work with Vista was the small default size of the windows explorer. Unfortunately, saving the folder settings and applying them to all folders via the folder settings dialog had no effect. Not even as administrator.

Finally, I found the trick:

  1. Open an explorer with your preferred method (start menu, [Windows]+E, anything else?)
  2. Resize the window to the desired initial size.
  3. Close the window while pressing the shift key.

The next time you open the explorer, it should have the size of your choice.

12 Responses to “Default size of Windows Explorer in Vista”

  1. Hans Gielen Says:
    August 29th, 2007 at 12:24 pm

    This was one of the really annoying issues, where did you find the solution?

    THANKS

  2. mklinke Says:
    August 29th, 2007 at 7:36 pm

    Hi Hans,

    I compiled it from several posts across the net and some trial and error. I don’t remember the URLs, however, since I did some googling and have never visited those pages before or after that again ;)
    Great that my post was helpful!

    Martin

  3. Peter Says:
    December 21st, 2007 at 12:18 am

    Thanks mate, just what I’ve been looking for :) Ain’t the internets something else!

  4. shai Says:
    January 29th, 2008 at 6:08 am

    thanks, just what i was looking for…so simple :)

  5. sdchung Says:
    February 3rd, 2008 at 2:13 pm

    Thanks, that’s awesome. This annoyance was really driving me nuts. Much appreciated!

  6. Bruce Says:
    December 3rd, 2008 at 7:21 am

    Excellent!! A million thanks! This was one of my pet peeves with Vista Explorer – Great Job!

  7. Bruce Says:
    December 3rd, 2008 at 7:26 am

    Actually on my 64bit version, its the CONTROL key that does this while Closing, not Shift.

  8. Dave Says:
    June 19th, 2009 at 9:06 am

    Cool, thank you!

  9. Jim Says:
    July 8th, 2009 at 1:36 am

    Worked like a charm. This is just what I needed. Thanks!

  10. Mattias Says:
    October 23rd, 2009 at 8:04 pm

    Hmm, neither Ctrl nor Shift does the trick for me… strange.
    Are there other ways? Register tricks etc?

  11. Mattias Says:
    October 23rd, 2009 at 8:41 pm

    Oh! Now it works.
    I have to be in the same view (“Computer”) as when starting Explorer, when closing it with Shift-[close]. Makes kind of sense, if it’s a per-folder setting.

    The first times I opened it I went to “Documents”, resized the window so that it showed just as many icons I want it to, and then shift-closed. Didn’t work. Have to return to “Computer” (where the icons don’t matter much to me, that’s why I left it) and shift-close from there. :-)

  12. Ben Says:
    June 25th, 2010 at 5:13 pm

    Confirming Bruce, on my Vista 64 the Ctrl key did the trick, not Shift.
    Thanks guys!

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