External HDD view settings don't "stick"

Hi all, I'm trying to put all my photos, videos, books, etc., on an external hard drive to give to my two kids. When I open a folder on the hard drive, the pictures are all jumbled up. I click on "clean up," and everything looks great. I click on "view options" and I check the box for "always open in icon view," and everything still looks great. When I unmount and mount the SanDisk Extreme Hard Drive again, all the pictures are jumbled up again. How can I make the "clean up" stick?? It seems like the "always open in icon view" is not sticking. Thank you for any experience or suggestions.

Posted on Nov 12, 2025 8:40 AM

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2 replies

Nov 15, 2025 11:37 AM in response to MarkPek

MarkPek wrote:

Hi all, I'm trying to put all my photos, videos, books, etc., on an external hard drive to give to my two kids. When I open a folder on the hard drive, the pictures are all jumbled up. I click on "clean up," and everything looks great. I click on "view options" and I check the box for "always open in icon view," and everything still looks great. When I unmount and mount the SanDisk Extreme Hard Drive again, all the pictures are jumbled up again. How can I make the "clean up" stick?? It seems like the "always open in icon view" is not sticking. Thank you for any experience or suggestions.


I don't see how that is an option unless you move the overriding Library...there is no governing software

Move your Photos library to save space on your Mac - Apple Support


Will photos albums organization show on E… - Apple Community




you can burn the external media—

To burn photos while keeping their arrangement from an external drive, use the built-in file explorer or burning software to select and copy the folder structure you want, or create a "burn folder" to hold the files before burning them to a disc

. This method ensures that the folder hierarchy and the original file order are maintained on the disc.


ref: How to turn an Album into a Slideshow and… - Apple Community


How to burn a photos project - Apple Community





otherwise Finder is basic sort feature reading external media—

Sort and arrange items in the Finder on Mac




Call Customer Support (800) MY–APPLE (800–692–7753)


or on line https://getsupport.apple.com/


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External HDD view settings don't "stick"

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