Allow "folders first" setting

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Joined: 16 Aug 2024

Antonio.A

Hi all!
In Tools >Options I'd like to be able to set "Folders first" order in "Browse" panel.
Many applications work in this way.
Thank you in advance.
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Zenju

What is "folders first"? And which "Browse"?
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Antonio.A

"Folders first" means that folders will be displayed first, before all other files.
"Browse" panel is the panel where to specify the folder to work, accessible from Tools >Options.
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Zenju

"Browse" panel is the panel where to specify the folder to work, accessible from Tools >Options. Antonio.A, 24 Jun 2026, 08:08
There are four "Browse" buttons on this page. Which do you mean?
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xCSxXenon

"Browse" panel is the panel where to specify the folder to work, accessible from Tools >Options. Antonio.A, 24 Jun 2026, 08:08
There are four "Browse" buttons on this page. Which do you mean? Zenju, 24 Jun 2026, 11:00
Is it even relevant? They all bring up the native File Explorer anyway, which lists folders first unless changed from the default by the user. OP, can you provide a screenshot displaying the "problem"?
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Antonio.A

Sorry, not from Tools >Options.

Open FreeFileSync, showing "Compare" and "Synchronize" panels.
At the right of each path menu, there are a "Browse" button to select a folder.
A click on one of these buttons open the window "Select a folder".

I mean exactly this panel, where it would be useful to see listed Folders grouped befor files.

Thank you!
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Antonio.A

FreeFileSync-browse-MOD.png
FreeFileSync-browse-MOD.png (35.47 KiB) Viewed 47 times
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Plerry

I don't know which OS you (Antonio.A) are on, but on Windows that Browse window only shows folders, and the two buttons at the bottom are "Select Folder" and "Cancel".
So it seems to be a MAC and/or Linux specific problem.
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xCSxXenon

So it seems to be a MAC and/or Linux specific problem. Plerry, 24 Jun 2026, 21:20
+1
That shouldn't even show files in the first place. On one hand, since FFS is just opening the OS's file explorer, I would suggest looking up how to sort by folders first for your OS specifically. On the other hand, it wouldn't even matter if it displayed folders only as it does in Windows.
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Zenju

This is native system behavor, not by FreeFileSync:
"GTK explicitly chose to show grayed-out files in folder pickers so users have spatial awareness of where they are."

That said, GTK offers exactly the option you asked for, and it's even globally persistent:
folders-before-files.png
folders-before-files.png (33.14 KiB) Viewed 28 times
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Antonio.A

My OS is Linux, Debian 13.
I just found how to set the order, from "Select a folder" panel:
- Right-click on the title of a column (e.g. Name).
- Appears a pop-up where to choose different sorting types and the last option is "Sort folders before files".

Problem solved.