This makes sorting by name less optimal since it’s hard to find the file you’re looking for, so we’re updating the default sorting to show the most recently downloaded file at the top of the list instead. Because of that, the names aren’t always very memorable (cake_134_small_red.jpg anyone?). More often than not, when you download a file, you don’t change the name before downloading it. Here is what Microsoft said about this change: This change was made in Windows 10 build 18298 and we told you about this change in our exclusive Changelog topic. It saves their time in looking for newly downloaded files. Many users manually organize files and folders date/time-wise in “Downloads” folder so that they can view and open latest files immediately after launching the “Downloads” folder.

Microsoft made this change in newer versions of Windows 10 after getting feedback and suggestions from several users. Also the sorting is set to “Date modified” in descending order so that the new and latest files are shown at the top. You can see in above screenshot, files and folders are organized in groups such as today, yesterday and last week. In other words, the downloaded files are grouped and sorted by “Date Modified” field under “Downloads” folder in Windows 10 as shown in following screenshot: When users open “ Downloads” folder in Windows 10 File Explorer, all files and folders present in “Downloads” folder are shown in groups such as Today, Yesterday, Last week, Last month, Last year, etc. I have received many emails from readers regarding this annoying issue present in newer versions of Windows 10.

Windows 11 download folder