How to Group Files in a Folder in Finder on macOS

To group files in one Finder folder, open that folder and choose a category from the Group control in the Finder toolbar. You can group items by attributes such as kind, date, size, or tags. Finder saves the arrangement for that folder until you change it, and grouping only changes how items appear—it does not move or rename files.

Group items in a specific Finder folder

1. Open the folder. In Finder, navigate to the folder whose files you want to group and open it in its own window or tab. Make sure Finder is showing the folder’s contents, not the desktop; desktop grouping is a separate setting.
2. Find the Group control. Look in the Finder toolbar for the Group button. If the toolbar is hidden, choose View > Show Toolbar. If the button is not visible, widen the Finder window or open the toolbar’s More Items menu. Apple documents grouping from this toolbar control in any Finder view.
3. Choose the grouping attribute. Click Group, then select an option. Kind separates documents, images, folders, and other file types. Date Added helps with recent downloads, while Date Modified is useful for active project folders. Size highlights large files, and Tags organizes items by the Finder tags you have assigned. Available choices can vary with the macOS version and folder contents.
4. Reopen the folder to check it. Close or leave the window, then open the same folder again. The selected grouping should still be there. When you add a file, Finder places it in the matching group based on the selected attribute.

Use View Options when your Mac shows a Group By menu

Some macOS versions also show a Group By menu in the folder’s view options. With the target folder open, choose View > Show View Options or press Command-J. If the panel includes Group By, choose the attribute there. If you do not see that control, use the toolbar’s Group menu instead; Finder’s current help describes that toolbar route.

The Always open in option in View Options controls which view the folder opens in, such as List view. It is useful if the folder keeps opening in a different view, but it is separate from the Group setting. If the folder contains subfolders and you also want them to use that view, Apple provides a separate Browse in option.

Keep the change local to one folder

For a folder-specific layout, change the Group setting while that folder is open and leave Use as Defaults alone. Apple describes that button as applying view settings to other folders that use the same view; it is not needed to save a change for the folder you are working in. The option is also unavailable in Column view. You can still choose a different grouping for another folder by opening that folder and changing its own Group setting.

Grouping and sorting do different jobs

Grouping creates sections based on a shared attribute, such as file kind or date. Sorting controls the order of items, for example by name or date modified. If you want a particular order within a group, adjust the sort order separately. In List view, clicking a column heading changes the order by that column; you can click it again to reverse the direction.

If the groups do not appear

• Confirm you changed the setting while the target folder was open, rather than while the desktop or a different folder was active.
• Open the Group menu again and select an attribute instead of None.
• If the folder opens in an unexpected view, use View > Show View Options and check its Always open in setting. A subfolder can have its own view options, so check that subfolder separately if it behaves differently.
• If the toolbar controls are missing, show the toolbar or use its More Items menu. Finder’s labels and available options can differ slightly across macOS releases.

For version-specific details, see Apple’s guides to sorting and grouping items in Finder, customizing a folder’s view, and customizing the Finder toolbar.