Forum Discussion
Completely get rid of "Group By" anywhere in File Explorer
To disable Group By globally in File Explorer on Windows 11, use this method:
- Press Win+R, type regedit, and hit Enter.
- HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced
- Right-click in the right pane, select New > DWORD (32-bit) Value, and name it UseAutoGrouping.
- Set the value of UseAutoGrouping to 0.
- Close the Registry Editor and restart File Explorer (or reboot your PC).
This will disable Group By globally for all folders.
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