I understand that Dolphin no longer uses .directory files, but how do I reset the view properties?
The “Adjust view display style” does not remove my old settings, even with ticking “All folders” + “Use as default settings” and I have also deleted my old .directory files.
I have tried deleted all dolphin files but my old view-settings are still there.
KDE Arch Linux 6.14.6-zen, Dolphin 25.04.1.
All the folders in ~/.local/share/dolphin/view_properties/ are empty.
Hi - just to check, does it work in your case to go to the highest-level directory that you want to be affected, go to View > Adjust View Display Style, and choose Apply to “Current folder and sub-folders”?
Yes! That worked, minus the order of the columns, but that is not that important for me now. Thank you!
Just out of curiosity, do you know where that config file is stored, if I wanted to mess with the orders of the columns?
you can just change the column order and run this to see which file changed.
#to find the last 10 recently changed files from a config change or fat fingered file save
find -type f -printf '%T@ %p\n' | sort -n | tail -10
Sorry to ask here, but this is the first time I’ve heard that -directory files are no longer used. I have a lot of these old files in my file directories (Documents, Music, Pictures, etc.). How can I delete them all at once?
I used the GUI way; I just searched for them inside Dolphin and deleted them directly from the search results.
Did not work for me , here is my output, (deleted some web-browser stuff.)
find -type f -printf '%T@ %p\n' | sort -n | tail -10
./.local/share/kwrite/anonymous.katesession
./.local/state/kalendaracstaterc
./.local/state/dolphinstaterc
./.local/share/baloo/index-lock
./.local/share/baloo/index
I did check the dolfhinstaterc file but it didnt seem to be that file.
You can do this, but it will remove them.
find . -name .directory -delete or something along those line.
Otherwise dolphin will convert the .directory files to extended attribute (where those settings are saved by folder) as it encounters them.
getfattr -d folder
# file: .
user.kde.fm.viewproperties#1="[Dolphin]\012Timestamp=2025,5,6,16,42,50.49\012Version=4\012"
Except it seems there is a bug, they are converted only when they are changed.
Will see to fix it.
what was wrong with .directory files?
People don’t like to have hidden files for this, since they can be considered visual noice when showing hidden files:
Thank you.
this nugget caught my eye.
i think it’s not a good idea to store hidden config files in a folder where they are needed.
perhaps in time we’ll discover why mac and windows choose to do it like that. lol!
when i do it, it show this file changed `~/.local/share/dolphin/view_properties/global/.directory/
but i’m still on plasma 5
All those folders are empty on my system, I tried to:
touch ~/.local/share/dolphin/view_properties/global/.directory
but the file got deleted after I applied the solution to this post.
(View > Adjust View Display Style, and choose Apply to “Current folder and sub-folders+Use as default")
Maybe its a bug, but I’m just glad I found a way to re-set all my folders,
It’s not that important for me to sort the columns globally at this time.
Thanx to all the devs and the contributors @ KDE.
This folder is used, either when one selected “global/shared view setting” setting or for folders when the user has no write permissions (before when creating a file or with dolphin 24.12+ setting the xattr).
I’m sorry, I do not 100% understand. This folder has always been empty on my system, I delete it , and when I’m in GUI and do:
View > Adjust View Display Style, and choose Apply to “Current folder and sub-folders+Use as default"
it comes back but folders are empty, regardless of how much I mess with view-settings. And yes I have checked “show hidden files”.
And if I in terminal do: getfattr -d /home/myUserName/
I get output: user.kde.fm.viewproperties#1="[Dolphin]\012HeaderColumnWidths=602,73,124,93,124,73,87,73,73,79,84,73,122,73\012SortHiddenLast=true\012Timestamp=2025,5,15,18,59,46.201\012Version=4\012ViewMode=1\012VisibleRoles=CustomizedDetails,Details_text,Details_size,Details_modificationtime,Details_creationtime,Details_accesstime,Details_type,Details_rating,Details_tags,Details_comment,Details_lineCount,Details_dimensions,Details_duration,Details_permissions,Details_owner\012\012[Settings]\012HiddenFilesShown=true\012"
Is the above output supposed to live in: ~/.local/share/dolphin/view_properties/? If so the file is invisible, not just hidden. Or can I find the file somewhere else and change the order of the columns in details-view?
With dolphin 24.12+, the data is not in files but in metadata. For instance:
getfattr -d ~/.local/share/dolphin/view_properties/global