How to Turn On and Off Numerical Sorting in File Explorer for Windows

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In Windows, you can enable or disable numerical sorting in File Explorer. Windows utilizes two different types of sorting mechanisms: intuitive or numerical sorting and literal sorting. Literal sorting was used by Windows 2000 and earlier versions prior to that, while Numerical sorting is used by every version of Windows from Windows XP to Windows 10. Literal sorting sorts files by each digit in the file name or by each number in the file name as opposed to numerical sorting, which sorts files by rising number values.

However, Windows will revert to default literal sorting if you disable numerical sorting. Both offer benefits and drawbacks, but ultimately, it is up to the individual to decide which one they wish to utilize. Because Windows lacks an internal setting to enable or disable numerical sorting, you must use either the Registry Editor or Group Policy Editor to modify these settings. Anyway, without further ado, let’s learn how to change the numerical sorting settings in Windows 10’s File Explorer. We have mentioned steps below to Turn On and Off Numerical Sorting in File Explorer for Windows.

Steps to Turn On and Off Numerical Sorting in File Explorer for Windows.

Open the Start menu by pressing the Win key.

Type Reedit in the search bar and select Run as administrator in the right pane.

Click Yes on the UAC that appears.

Click the address bar, paste the following location and press Enter.

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftWindowsCurrent VersionPoliciesExplorer

Right-click the Explorer folder in the left pane, select New, and then select DWORD (32-bit) value from the context menu.

Name the value NoStrCmpLogical and press Enter.

Right-click NoStrCmpLogical and select Modify.

Make sure that the base value is set to hexadecimal.

Type 0 in Value Data and click OK to enable numeric sorting.

To disable numerical sorting, enter 1 in Value data and click OK.

Final Words

We hope like our article on How to Turn On and Off Numerical Sorting in File Explorer for Windows. A file management programme should resemble the Windows File Explorer almost exactly. Although we are aware that many users want a UWP or Universal Windows Platform version of the same, the File Explorer programme for Windows Classic is truly excellent. Everything a person might want is present. This software automatically organizes files according to their numerical nomenclature, which is one of its minor benefits.