Is there a way to have folders included in 'Last Modified"?

[Pilgrim]

This is something I have always wanted to exist in Windows Explorer. When you click on the "Last Modified" column, only files come to the top according to the date they were modified/added. Is there a 'mod' to include folders? I would find this extremely helpful.

[John Gray]

I don't think the Last Modified field on folders is always correctly updated. On Robocopy backups, after the backup has been completed, I've had to arrange to create a new, dummy, file in a folder and then delete it, so as to get the Last Modified date of the folder to update...

[Pilgrim]

For me, folders aren't arranged by date when clicking on the "Date Modified" [correction, sorry!] column. There doesn't seem to be any order for the way the folders are arranged; not by date, not alphabetical, etc.. Perhaps I'm missing something here?

[HansV]

I have skipped Vista, but both in Windows XP and in Windows 7, folders sort correctly for me, but always separate from files.
I don't think Windows Explorer has a standard view that sorts files and folders together, but there are ways to simulate it:

- Right-click an empty part of the list of files, and select Group By > Date Modified from the context menu

or

- Type an asterisk * in the search box at the top of the Explorer window and press Enter. (This is not permanent though)

[Pilgrim]

Hans,

I played around with both the "Group By" and "Sort By" options and somehow what I wanted now works, albeit the files are listed first in the order of the date modified and then the group of folders beneath them in the same order! And, this appears to be the case for any folder, not just the one I have been experimenting with.

The BIG question is now... will this order be retained after a reboot? hehehe Time will tell.

Thanks for everyone's input.