Completely get rid of "Group By" anywhere in File Explorer

Here's what I had to do December 2025...

1. Open file explorer
2. Click Sort drop down
3. Group by > none
4. Open Options by clicking 3 dots next to view drop down
5. Click View tab
6. Click Apply to Folders
7. Click OK and close file explorer and reopen

Holaway​ My research indicates that the "UseAutoGrouping" registry value does nothing at all. Presumably you marked that reply as the "solution". If so, how did you conclude that it was a correct answer? My issue is that incorrect answers get propagated by other users and AI bots. Assuming you cannot prove this setting does anything, I'm kindly requesting that you unmark that reply as a solution.

At the link below, I have documented all known methods to disable grouping for all possible views of Downloads folder, be it within Explorer or an app's file open/save dialog. These are fully tested solutions:

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/answers/questions/3840386/completely-disable-file-grouping-always-everywhere

IT DOESN-T WORK ANYMORE!

Just to display how stupid this grouping is. I sorted a bunch of files by name and I get this result

Use WinSetView. This is the only solution that works. The registry key won't do anything on its own

It is not working after update.

Reset Folder Views

1. Open File Explorer.
2. Click on the "View" menu at the top.
3. Select "Show", then choose "Options."
4. In the Folder Options window, go to the “View” tab.
5. Click on “Reset Folders.” This action will reset the view settings for all folders of the same type to their default settings.