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Changing default sort order?

Forum|Forum|1 year ago
March 1, 2025
5 replies
1425 views

I see so many discussions and feature suggestions for changing the default sort order in LrC going back many years.

Lightroom appears to default to capture time. With our workflow we need to sort by filename. It's one more step in our process that should be as simple as being able to specify our preference in Lightroom.

Am I missing something or does Lightroom really not support sort defaults?

Windows

Correct answer drtonyb

@FrostyOfTheNorth, @wongataa , @JohanElzenga , @richardplondon , @dj_paige

I've done some digging on this and found that there is indeed a default folder sort order that can be changed outside of LrC.

The default sort order is specified in the Preferences file, which is just a text file and can be edited using a text editor.

To locate your Preferences file for your system, see Adobe's help page:

https://helpx.adobe.com/au/lightroom-classic/kb/preference-file-and-other-file-locations.html

Quit LrC, then locate the Preferences file. It would be a good idea to make a backup copy of it before going any further.

Do not attempt to edit the Preferences file while LrC is running.

Open the Preferences file in a text editor. Search for:

AgLibrary_defaultSortType =

The normal setting for this is

AgLibrary_defaultSortType = "captureTime",

Please note that the comma at the end of the line is essential.

If you want the default sort order to be File Name, then change this line to:

AgLibrary_defaultSortType = "fileName",

then save the Preferences file.

For each Sort Type, there is also a default sort direction. For Capture Time (ascending) this is specified by the line

AgLibrary_defaultSortDescending_captureTime = false,

If set to false, the sort direction is ascending; if set to true, the sort direction is descending.

Similarly, the default sort direction for File Name (ascending) is specified by the line

AgLibrary_defaultSortDescending_fileName = false,

Changes made to these settings in the Preferences file will only affect New Folders or Show Parent. Existing folders will maintain their sort order settings.

There is a way to reset all folders to a new default sort order, but it involves changes to the catalog outside of LrC and I'm not going into that here. If interested, send me a Private Message.

D

drtonybCorrect answer

Legend

@FrostyOfTheNorth, @wongataa , @JohanElzenga , @richardplondon , @dj_paige

I've done some digging on this and found that there is indeed a default folder sort order that can be changed outside of LrC.

The default sort order is specified in the Preferences file, which is just a text file and can be edited using a text editor.

To locate your Preferences file for your system, see Adobe's help page:

https://helpx.adobe.com/au/lightroom-classic/kb/preference-file-and-other-file-locations.html

Quit LrC, then locate the Preferences file. It would be a good idea to make a backup copy of it before going any further.

Do not attempt to edit the Preferences file while LrC is running.

Open the Preferences file in a text editor. Search for:

AgLibrary_defaultSortType =

The normal setting for this is

AgLibrary_defaultSortType = "captureTime",

Please note that the comma at the end of the line is essential.

If you want the default sort order to be File Name, then change this line to:

AgLibrary_defaultSortType = "fileName",

then save the Preferences file.

For each Sort Type, there is also a default sort direction. For Capture Time (ascending) this is specified by the line

AgLibrary_defaultSortDescending_captureTime = false,

If set to false, the sort direction is ascending; if set to true, the sort direction is descending.

Similarly, the default sort direction for File Name (ascending) is specified by the line

AgLibrary_defaultSortDescending_fileName = false,

Changes made to these settings in the Preferences file will only affect New Folders or Show Parent. Existing folders will maintain their sort order settings.

There is a way to reset all folders to a new default sort order, but it involves changes to the catalog outside of LrC and I'm not going into that here. If interested, send me a Private Message.

W

wongataa

Participating Frequently

Manually editing the preferences file worked. Thank you for finding this.

D

drtonyb

Legend

@richardplondonwrote

"As a fine-tune on that, there is a 'padlock' icon (towards right end of the Filter bar in Library) which controls what happens whenever you switch from one folder / collection view source, to another. If 'locked', whatever sort order and view filtering you last chose persists between view sources."

No it doesn't. The padlock is only for the Filter Bar and has no effect on the Library Grid's selected Sort Order. Each folder/collection keeps its own Sort Order. Changing the Sort Order for one folder will not "stick" when another folder is selected.

The default Sort Order is Capture Time and there is no facility to change this. If the Sort Order is changed by the user for a folder or collection, the new setting is recorded in the catalog for that folder/collection. When another folder/collection is selected, if there is no Sort Order setting saved for it in the catalog (previously by the user), then the Sort Order will default to Capture Time.

R

richardplondon

Community Expert

My apologies, I might have simply mis-remembered this behaviour! Unless, there's been some variation in that.

If not persisting across folders, I can appreciate the frustration.

JohanElzenga

Community Expert

When you set the sort order of a folder or collection, that order sticks till you change it. So only if you create a new folder or new collection, you may have to change the sort order once. Big deal. I think the 'Recent Import' collection may be the only exception to that rule. I haven't checked, but I think It makes sense if that collection would default to capture time, because the camera may have reset the file name during the shoot.

-- Johan W. Elzenga

R

richardplondon

Community Expert

As a fine-tune on that, there is a 'padlock' icon (towards right end of the Filter bar in Library) which controls what happens whenever you switch from one folder / collection view source, to another. If 'locked', whatever sort order and view filtering you last chose persists between view sources. Hence for any newly arrived folder (or whatever) no default view needs to be involved: you simply see this however the prior-viewed folder/collection was being seen.

But if unlocked, each view source remembers its own separate persisting sort order and such, from a prior viewing of that same source: and if you have never viewed a particular source before, THEN some sort of default view setting must be used of necessity. I don't think one can change what that default would be.

So, if you have a general preference about how you like all folders / collections to be seen, keeping this icon 'locked' will probably suit you better.

S

ShotByRoy

Participant

I preffer the capture time with shooting on two camera bodies and lightroom has now been sorting by filename and it is very frustrating that you can't choose a default

dj_paige

Legend

The way I described above is the way it works. Whatever you choose becomes the default order, until you change it.

dj_paige

Legend

I can change the sort order in LrC to "File Name". If I exit LrC, and then later re-open LrC, the "File Name" sort order is maintained. Is that what you mean by "default" sort order?

Does that not happen for you?

If it does not happen for you, try resetting your preference file. https://www.lightroomqueen.com/how-do-i-reset-lightrooms-preferences/

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