How to Set Columns in Folders to Use a Minimal Amount of Space

This article describes how to set columns in folders to use a minimal amount of space.

When you select Details view for a folder, a header bar appears with these columns: Name, Type, Size, and Modified. You can change the width of the columns by dragging the vertical bars located between the column names. To see as much information as possible, you can set these columns to use a minimal amount of space. To do so, follow these steps:

1. Open a folder, and then click Details on the View menu.
2. If you are using Windows Explorer, click in the pane (on the right) that displays the folder contents.
3. Press CTRL+PLUS SIGN (make sure to use the PLUS SIGN key on the numeric keypad).

Alternate Method

WARNING: If you use Registry Editor incorrectly, you may cause serious problems that may require you to reinstall your operating system. Microsoft cannot guarantee that you can solve problems that result from using Registry Editor incorrectly. Use Registry Editor at your own risk.

If the steps listed above do not work, try the following steps:

1. Start Registry Editor (Regedit.exe).
2. Locate the following registry key:
   HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer
3. Delete the DirectoryColsX binary value.
4. Quit Registry Editor.

This resets the column widths when you next start Windows Explorer. The DirectoryColsX entry is re-created the next time you specify custom column sizes in Windows Explorer.