How to Reset File Explorer Folder Views in Windows 11

File Explorer remembers a separate view for every folder template — General items, Documents, Pictures, Music and Videos — and caches per-folder tweaks (column widths, sort order, grouping, window size) in the registry. Over time those cached views drift, get overwritten by Explorer's automatic template detection, or simply pile up until Windows starts dropping the oldest ones. Resetting clears that mess and gives you a clean baseline to rebuild from.

Method 1 — Reset Folders in Folder Options

This is the built-in, no-registry way to reset. It affects folders that share the template of the folder you are currently viewing, returning them to the Windows default layout for that template.

1. Open File Explorer and browse into a normal folder of the type you want to reset (for example a Documents folder, not This PC or Home).
2. On the toolbar, click the See more button — the three-dot … menu — and choose Options. This opens the Folder Options dialog — the same route Microsoft gives in its File Explorer in Windows support article, which also lists the Windows 10 equivalent under the View tab.
3. Switch to the View tab.
4. Under Folder views, click Reset Folders, then click Yes to confirm.
5. Click OK to close Folder Options.

Every folder that uses the same template now opens with the default Windows layout. Note that Reset Folders only clears the customised views you applied; it does not change which template each folder is assigned, and it does not delete files.

On Windows 10 the location differs slightly: open the folder, click the View ribbon tab, choose Options, then use the View tab and Reset Folders.

Method 2 — Clear the per-folder cache (Bags / BagMRU) and sign out

Explorer stores each folder's remembered view in two registry keys, Bags and BagMRU, under your user profile:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\Local Settings\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Shell

Windows only remembers views for roughly the first 5,000 folders you customise; beyond that it quietly drops the oldest entries, so a view you set months ago reverts to its template default. A corrupted cache causes the same symptom on far fewer folders. Deleting these keys forces Explorer to rebuild every folder view from clean defaults — the most thorough reset available.

1. Press Windows + R, type regedit and press Enter. Approve the User Account Control prompt.
2. In the left pane, navigate to:

   HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\Local Settings\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Shell

3. Right-click the Bags key, choose Delete, and confirm with Yes.
4. Right-click the BagMRU key, choose Delete, and confirm with Yes.
5. Close Registry Editor.
6. Sign out of Windows and sign back in (or restart the PC). Explorer rebuilds the cache from scratch, and every folder returns to its default view.

Prefer the command line? Run these two lines in an elevated Command Prompt or PowerShell, then sign out and back in. The /f switch, per Microsoft's reg delete command reference, deletes the subkey without asking for confirmation, and the quotation marks are needed because the key path contains a space:

reg delete "HKCU\Software\Classes\Local Settings\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Shell\Bags" /f
reg delete "HKCU\Software\Classes\Local Settings\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Shell\BagMRU" /f

This is a genuine reset: your saved per-folder tweaks are gone and Explorer starts fresh. That is exactly what you want when views are corrupted — but if you only meant to tidy one folder type, Method 1 is gentler.

Method 3 — Re-apply one clean view to all folders of a type

After a reset, the fastest way to get a tidy, consistent Explorer is to configure one folder perfectly and push that layout to every folder sharing its template. This is the Apply to Folders command — the positive counterpart to Reset Folders.

1. Open a folder that represents the template you want to standardise (for example a plain Documents folder for the General items / Documents look).
2. Set it up exactly as you want: pick a layout from the View menu (Details is the usual choice), right-click a column header to add or remove columns, drag the column edges to your preferred widths, and set Sort by and Group by if you use them.
3. Click the See more (…) button and choose Options.
4. Switch to the View tab and click Apply to Folders, then click Yes.
5. Click OK to close Folder Options.

Every folder that uses the same template now opens with this view. Repeat once per template you care about — open a Pictures folder to set the picture layout, and so on. If a single stubborn folder keeps flipping to the Pictures layout after you add images, pin its template with Properties → Customize → Optimize this folder for → General items so Explorer stops re-guessing it.

Between these three methods you can reset File Explorer as gently or as thoroughly as the situation needs: Reset Folders for a quick per-template reset, the Bags/BagMRU wipe for a full clean slate, and Apply to Folders to rebuild a consistent view afterwards. If your real problem is that views keep coming back wrong, read the companion guide on how to stop Windows 11 folder views from resetting. For more Explorer and registry walkthroughs, browse the Windows how-to guides or dig through the restored windows-now.com archive.