How to back up and restore Folder View settings in Windows 11/10

The Windows File Explorer is easy to navigate and comes with so many interesting accessibility features, one of which is the folder view settings. You can customize folders to represent the type of files they store.

For instance, if you have a folder where you saved only videos, you can set the folder to show thumbnails of the videos instead of a list or file details. You can also customize each folder to display medium, large, or extra-large icons.

After making these changes, you may want to back them up in order to restore the folder view settings if they get reset. This guide shows you how to back up and restore your folder view settings by using a batch file.

Back up and restore Folder View settings in Windows 11/10

Follow the steps below to back up and restore your Folder View settings in Windows 11/10.

Create the backup-and-restore batch file.
Unblock the .bat file if blocked by Windows.
Run the .bat file to backup and restore your folder view settings.

Without further ado, we’ll now jump right into the detailed steps involved in carrying out the above operations.

1] Create the backup-and-restore batch file

Click on the Start button and search for Notepad. Select the Notepad app from the search results to launch it.

Enter the following text in the new Notepad file:

@ECHO OFF

title Backup and Restore Folder View Settings Tool
:choice
cls
echo.
echo OPTIONS:
echo.
echo 1. Back up your folder view settings.
echo 2. Restore folder view settings from backup.
echo 3. Cancel
echo.
echo.
set /P c=Type the option number you would like to do, and press Enter?
if /I "%c%" EQU "1" goto :verify1
if /I "%c%" EQU "2" goto :verify2
if /I "%c%" EQU "3" exit
goto :choice

:verify1
IF EXIST "%userprofile%\Desktop\Folder View Settings Backup" goto :response1
goto :backup

:response1
echo.
echo.
echo You already have a "Folder View Settings Backup" folder on your desktop.
echo Please move it to another location, and try again.
echo.
pause
goto :choice

:backup
mkdir "%userprofile%\Desktop\Folder View Settings Backup"
REG EXPORT HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Streams\Defaults "%userprofile%\Desktop\Folder View Settings Backup\HKCU_Software_Microsoft_Windows_CurrentVersion_Explorer_Streams_Defaults.reg" /y
REG EXPORT HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Shell\BagMRU "%userprofile%\Desktop\Folder View Settings Backup\HKCU_Software_Microsoft_Windows_Shell_BagMRU.reg" /y
REG EXPORT HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Shell\Bags "%userprofile%\Desktop\Folder View Settings Backup\HKCU_Software_Microsoft_Windows_Shell_Bags.reg" /y
REG EXPORT HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\ShellNoRoam\Bags "%userprofile%\Desktop\Folder View Settings Backup\HKCU_Software_Microsoft_Windows_ShellNoRoam_Bags.reg" /y
REG EXPORT HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\ShellNoRoam\BagMRU "%userprofile%\Desktop\Folder View Settings Backup\HKCU_Software_Microsoft_Windows_ShellNoRoam_BagMRU.reg" /y
REG EXPORT "HKCU\Software\Classes\Local Settings\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Shell\BagMRU" "%userprofile%\Desktop\Folder View Settings Backup\HKCU_Software_Classes_LocalSettings_Software_Microsoft_Windows_Shell_BagMRU.reg" /y
REG EXPORT "HKCU\Software\Classes\Local Settings\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Shell\Bags" "%userprofile%\Desktop\Folder View Settings Backup\HKCU_Software_Classes_LocalSettings_Software_Microsoft_Windows_Shell_Bags.reg" /y
cls
echo.
echo Backup of folder view settings successfully completed.
echo.
pause 
exit

:verify2
IF NOT EXIST "%userprofile%\Desktop\Folder View Settings Backup" goto :response
goto :restore

:response
echo.
echo.
echo You do not have a "Folder View Settings Backup" folder on your desktop.
echo Please place the backup folder on your desktop, and try again.
echo.
pause
goto :choice

:restore 
REG Delete "HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Streams\Defaults" /F
Reg Delete "HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Shell\BagMRU" /F
Reg Delete "HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Shell\Bags" /F
Reg Delete "HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\ShellNoRoam\Bags" /F
Reg Delete "HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\ShellNoRoam\BagMRU" /F
Reg Delete "HKCU\Software\Classes\Local Settings\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Shell\BagMRU" /F
Reg Delete "HKCU\Software\Classes\Local Settings\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Shell\Bags" /F

REG IMPORT "%userprofile%\Desktop\Folder View Settings Backup\HKCU_Software_Microsoft_Windows_CurrentVersion_Explorer_Streams_Defaults.reg"
REG IMPORT "%userprofile%\Desktop\Folder View Settings Backup\HKCU_Software_Microsoft_Windows_Shell_BagMRU.reg"
REG IMPORT "%userprofile%\Desktop\Folder View Settings Backup\HKCU_Software_Microsoft_Windows_Shell_Bags.reg"
REG IMPORT "%userprofile%\Desktop\Folder View Settings Backup\HKCU_Software_Microsoft_Windows_ShellNoRoam_Bags.reg"
REG IMPORT "%userprofile%\Desktop\Folder View Settings Backup\HKCU_Software_Microsoft_Windows_ShellNoRoam_BagMRU.reg"
REG IMPORT "%userprofile%\Desktop\Folder View Settings Backup\HKCU_Software_Classes_LocalSettings_Software_Microsoft_Windows_Shell_BagMRU.reg"
REG IMPORT "%userprofile%\Desktop\Folder View Settings Backup\HKCU_Software_Classes_LocalSettings_Software_Microsoft_Windows_Shell_Bags.reg"
cls
echo.
echo Backup of folder view settings successfully restored.
echo.
echo Waiting to restart explorer to apply.
echo Your screen will flash as explorer is restarted.
echo.
echo.
pause
taskkill /f /im explorer.exe
start explorer.exe 
exit

You can copy and paste the above text into the note. Next, press CTRL + S and save the file on your desktop with the .bat extension. Do this by adding .bat at the end of the filename before hitting the Save button.

Files saved in the .bat extension are batch files and when done correctly, they’ll let you run commands on your Windows system. Learn more about batch files and explore these cool tricks.

2] Unblock the .bat file

After successfully saving the newly created file as a .bat file, Windows may block it. To run this file, you’ll need to unblock it first. To do this, right-click on the file and select Properties from the context menu.

Switch to the General tab of the Properties window and find the Unblock checkbox towards the bottom of the window. Check this box and hit the OK button to unblock the batch file.

NOTE: If the Unblock checkbox is missing in your setup, it means that Windows didn’t block the file and you can move to the next step.

3] Run the .bat file

After unblocking the .bat file, you’re good to go. You can run .bat file by double-clicking on it. Running the batch file opens a Command Prompt window that shows you the following options: