You can take a backup of all the changes you have made to the Folder View settings and restore using it if the settings get reverted back or on some other computer. In this post, we will see how you can back up and restore Folder View settings in Windows 11/10.
The Windows File Explorer is easy to navigate and comes with so many interesting accessibility features, one of which is the folder view settings. You can customize folders to represent the type of files they store.
For instance, if you have a folder where you saved only videos, you can set the folder to show thumbnails of the videos instead of a list or file details. You can also customize each folder to display medium, large, or extra-large icons.
After making these changes, you may want to back them up to restore the folder view settings if they are reset. This guide shows you how to do so using a batch file.
Back up and restore Folder View settings in Windows 11/10
Follow the steps below to back up and restore your Folder View settings in Windows 11/10.
- Create the backup-and-restore batch file.
- Unblock the .bat file if blocked by Windows.
- Run the .bat file to backup and restore your folder view settings.
Without further ado, we’ll now jump right into the detailed steps involved in carrying out the above operations.
1] Create the backup-and-restore batch file
Click on the Start button and search for Notepad. Select the Notepad app from the search results to launch it.
Enter the following text in the new Notepad file:
@ECHO OFF title Backup and Restore Folder View Settings Tool :choice cls echo. echo OPTIONS: echo. echo 1. Back up your folder view settings. echo 2. Restore folder view settings from backup. echo 3. Cancel echo. echo. set /P c=Type the option number you would like to do, and press Enter? if /I "%c%" EQU "1" goto :verify1 if /I "%c%" EQU "2" goto :verify2 if /I "%c%" EQU "3" exit goto :choice :verify1 IF EXIST "%userprofile%\Desktop\Folder View Settings Backup" goto :response1 goto :backup :response1 echo. echo. echo You already have a "Folder View Settings Backup" folder on your desktop. echo Please move it to another location, and try again. echo. pause goto :choice :backup mkdir "%userprofile%\Desktop\Folder View Settings Backup" REG EXPORT HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Streams\Defaults "%userprofile%\Desktop\Folder View Settings Backup\HKCU_Software_Microsoft_Windows_CurrentVersion_Explorer_Streams_Defaults.reg" /y REG EXPORT HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Shell\BagMRU "%userprofile%\Desktop\Folder View Settings Backup\HKCU_Software_Microsoft_Windows_Shell_BagMRU.reg" /y REG EXPORT HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Shell\Bags "%userprofile%\Desktop\Folder View Settings Backup\HKCU_Software_Microsoft_Windows_Shell_Bags.reg" /y REG EXPORT HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\ShellNoRoam\Bags "%userprofile%\Desktop\Folder View Settings Backup\HKCU_Software_Microsoft_Windows_ShellNoRoam_Bags.reg" /y REG EXPORT HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\ShellNoRoam\BagMRU "%userprofile%\Desktop\Folder View Settings Backup\HKCU_Software_Microsoft_Windows_ShellNoRoam_BagMRU.reg" /y REG EXPORT "HKCU\Software\Classes\Local Settings\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Shell\BagMRU" "%userprofile%\Desktop\Folder View Settings Backup\HKCU_Software_Classes_LocalSettings_Software_Microsoft_Windows_Shell_BagMRU.reg" /y REG EXPORT "HKCU\Software\Classes\Local Settings\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Shell\Bags" "%userprofile%\Desktop\Folder View Settings Backup\HKCU_Software_Classes_LocalSettings_Software_Microsoft_Windows_Shell_Bags.reg" /y cls echo. echo Backup of folder view settings successfully completed. echo. pause exit :verify2 IF NOT EXIST "%userprofile%\Desktop\Folder View Settings Backup" goto :response goto :restore :response echo. echo. echo You do not have a "Folder View Settings Backup" folder on your desktop. echo Please place the backup folder on your desktop, and try again. echo. pause goto :choice :restore REG Delete "HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Streams\Defaults" /F Reg Delete "HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Shell\BagMRU" /F Reg Delete "HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Shell\Bags" /F Reg Delete "HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\ShellNoRoam\Bags" /F Reg Delete "HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\ShellNoRoam\BagMRU" /F Reg Delete "HKCU\Software\Classes\Local Settings\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Shell\BagMRU" /F Reg Delete "HKCU\Software\Classes\Local Settings\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Shell\Bags" /F REG IMPORT "%userprofile%\Desktop\Folder View Settings Backup\HKCU_Software_Microsoft_Windows_CurrentVersion_Explorer_Streams_Defaults.reg" REG IMPORT "%userprofile%\Desktop\Folder View Settings Backup\HKCU_Software_Microsoft_Windows_Shell_BagMRU.reg" REG IMPORT "%userprofile%\Desktop\Folder View Settings Backup\HKCU_Software_Microsoft_Windows_Shell_Bags.reg" REG IMPORT "%userprofile%\Desktop\Folder View Settings Backup\HKCU_Software_Microsoft_Windows_ShellNoRoam_Bags.reg" REG IMPORT "%userprofile%\Desktop\Folder View Settings Backup\HKCU_Software_Microsoft_Windows_ShellNoRoam_BagMRU.reg" REG IMPORT "%userprofile%\Desktop\Folder View Settings Backup\HKCU_Software_Classes_LocalSettings_Software_Microsoft_Windows_Shell_BagMRU.reg" REG IMPORT "%userprofile%\Desktop\Folder View Settings Backup\HKCU_Software_Classes_LocalSettings_Software_Microsoft_Windows_Shell_Bags.reg" cls echo. echo Backup of folder view settings successfully restored. echo. echo Waiting to restart explorer to apply. echo Your screen will flash as explorer is restarted. echo. echo. pause taskkill /f /im explorer.exe start explorer.exe exit
You can copy and paste the above text into the note. Next, press CTRL + S and save the file on your desktop with the .bat extension. Do this by adding .bat at the end of the filename before hitting the Save button.
Files saved in the .bat extension are batch files and when done correctly, they’ll let you run commands on your Windows system. Learn more about batch files and explore these cool tricks.
2] Unblock the .bat file
After successfully saving the newly created file as a .bat file, Windows may block it. To run this file, you’ll need to unblock it first. To do this, right-click on the file and select Properties from the context menu.
Switch to the General tab of the Properties window and find the Unblock checkbox towards the bottom of the window. Check this box and hit the OK button to unblock the batch file.
NOTE: If the Unblock checkbox is missing in your setup, it means that Windows didn’t block the file and you can move to the next step.
3] Run the .bat file
After unblocking the .bat file, you’re good to go. You can run the .bat file by double-clicking on it. Running the batch file opens a Command Prompt window that shows you the following options:
- Back up your folder view settings.
- Restore folder view settings from backup.
- Cancel.
To back up your folder view settings, press 1 and hit the ENTER key. If you wish to restore your folder view settings, press 2 and press ENTER.
Alternatively, press 3 to cancel the operation.
I hope this helps.
Read: How to reset Folder View in Windows 11?
How do I go back to default settings in Windows 11?
To reset your settings to default, you can reset your PC without removing the files. To do so, open Settings, go to System > Recovery, and click on Reset PC placed right next to Reset this PC option. Now, click on Keep my files and proceed.
Also Read: Reset this PC stuck in Windows 11.
