Where does Dolphin store my individual folder view settings?

[cos4ni2s]

I would like to revert back to the default view settings for some folders but I can’t find a way to do it. Where does Dolphin store my individual folder view settings?

[meven]

Dolphin folder view settings are now in extended attributes on the filesystem as metadata attached to folders.

getfattr -d .

xattr(7) - Linux manual page

I did that in ViewProperties: Store view properties in extended file attributes (!573) · Merge requests · System / Dolphin · GitLab released in dolphin 24.12

[cos4ni2s]

1. I didn’t mark your answer as **Solution** but it somehow was marked.
2. How to revert back to the default attributes so they match my system-wide Dolphin settings?

[meven]

@cos4ni2s

How to revert back to the default attributes so they match my system-wide Dolphin settings?

You can also decide the default view for a folder hierarchy using the “Adjust View Display Style” dialog.

You can do it manually, getfattr is to read, there is setfattr to set or remove extended attributes.

[amilias]

@meven sorry for hijacking, but I never knew this changed and I got a question. I still have quite a few .directory files lying around from the earlier behavior and it doesn’t seem like folders get migrated automatically (i.e. no attributes are set). Is there a script that can help with turning .directory files into file attributes or are there maybe plans for dolphin to do this automatically when it finds a .directory file?

[cos4ni2s]

Is managing view settings through `.directory` still supported?

[meven]

@amilias

sorry for hijacking, but I never knew this changed and I got a question. I still have quite a few .directory files lying around from the earlier behavior and it doesn’t seem like folders get migrated automatically (i.e. no attributes are set).

What is your dolphin version ? Your distribution ?

Which are the paths concerned ? Remote filesystem can’t support this.

The .directory should be transformed into extended attributes as dolphin encounters them.
You need to enable viewprops-per-folder in the settings also.

@amilias

Is there a script that can help with turning .directory files into file attributes or are there maybe plans for dolphin to do this automatically when it finds a .directory file?

There is the “Adjust View Display Style” dialog that could do what you need.

A script should be very easy to write with setfattr and getfattr -d .

[meven]

If new .directories are found they overwrite the current state.

.directory are still converted on the fly.

You can use

setfattr --name "user.kde.fm.viewproperties#1" -v `cat .directory` .

Or

getfattr . --name "user.kde.fm.viewproperties#1" --only-values > .directory

[amilias]

@meven

The .directory should be transformed into extended attributes as dolphin encounters them.

The folders I’m looking at are on a normal internal hdd with ext4, dolphin version 25.12.3., but I did a bit more testing and it turns out they do get transformed when I make a change, so pressing alt+. to toggle hidden files has basically become my quick-migration tool when I see a .directory file.

Thanks for the setfattr snippets, though, I’ll run a find to figure out how many old .directory files are lurking in the shadows and see if it’s worth it to transform them via script.

[meven]

@amilias

a bit more testing and it turns out they do get transformed when I make a change, so pressing alt+.

That’s a bug, the goal was to convert those not just when changing something, but as they are encountered when browsing.

[amilias]

Alright, good to know. I’m currently on my work computer (same Dolphin Version, Manjaro) and am observing the same behavior in folders on the internal ssd. Don’t hesitate if there’s something I could test to help pinpointing the bug.