Finder Folders First

This is an old one resurrected from a time when I had no time to write on it. How to list folders first in Finder, similar to Windows Explorer.

Rather than bore you with more senseless speech, I shall simply start saying such sayings as I simply should speak.

Launch Terminal.app and then type:

cd /System/Library/CoreServices/Finder.app/Contents/Resources/English.lproj

After doing so, type the following commands, hitting Enter with each line break:

sudo chmod 777 InfoPlist.strings
sudo chmod 777
open InfoPlist.strings

The file should open in TextEdit or a similar application. Within that file you will find "Folder" = "Foler". Change it to "Folder" = " Folder" (note the space inside of the quotes within the second " Folder"). Save the file. Next use the Control-Option-Click combination on the Finder icon in the Dock and select Relaunch. When Finder restarts, when you sort lists by type, folder should always appear on top.

Note: I have noticed that this trick only works on my local hard drives, that is, it does not work on any of my NAS drives in Finder. Nevertheless, it is still a nice trick.

Note: Another shortcut that works is to copy the file to the desktop, edit it, save it, and then copy the file back to its original location and restart Finder.

UPDATE: Alas this no longer works! If you use the list view (as opposed to column or icon) and sort it by kind, then it works. But not for any other. I prefer column view myself, so I guess we will all have to keep our fingers crossed for Snow Leopard functionality...