Changing the Finder's list view default column widths

Apr 01, '03 09:53:00AM

Contributed by: noworryz

If you often use long file names, you might want to change the Finder list view default column widths (the widths you see when you set the View to "as List" and select "All Windows" in Show View Options). The 10.2 Finder, however, does not allow you to change the default widths -- if you try, the View Options change to "This Window Only" when you close and reopen the window.

You can set the default widths by double-clicking on ~/Library -> Preferences -> com.apple.finder.plist to open it in Property List Editor. Click on the reveal triangles next to Root, then StandardViewOptions, then Nlsv, then Columns. Reveal each column in turn and change the ColumnWidth value to your desired default by double-clicking it and typing.

Close the window, clicking on "Save" when you are asked if you want to save your changes. Then click on the desktop, press Command-Option-Escape, and press Return twice to relaunch the Finder using the new defaults.

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