How to Automatically Sort Mac Finder Files by Kind Instead of Name

If your Mac’s “Downloads” folder is a chaotic mess containing hundreds of scattered PDFs, images, ZIP files, and DMG installers, finding a specific document can feel impossible. By default, the macOS Finder organizes files alphabetically by their name. However, you can instantly bring order to the chaos by forcing Finder to automatically sort and group all files by their specific “Kind” (file type).

How to Group Files by Kind

This method does not just sort the files in a list; it visually separates them into distinct, labeled horizontal categories.

1. Open the Finder app on your Mac and navigate to the messy folder (e.g., your Downloads or Documents folder).
2. At the top of the Finder window, locate the toolbar. Click on the icon that looks like a small square with lines inside it (the View options button), or simply right-click anywhere in the empty white space of the folder.
3. From the dropdown menu, hover over the option labeled Group By.
4. A secondary menu will appear. Click on Kind.

Instantly, the contents of the folder will be dramatically reorganized. You will now see clear, distinct headers such as “Images,” “PDF Documents,” “Developer”, and “Folders.” Underneath each header, all corresponding files will be neatly grouped together, making it incredibly easy to locate that one specific PDF you downloaded last week.

How to Sort by Kind Without Grouping

If you do not like the large visual headers and simply want your files listed sequentially by file type (e.g., all JPEGs listed alphabetically, followed by all PDFs listed alphabetically), you can use the standard Sort function instead of the Group function.

1. Ensure your Finder window is set to List View (the icon with four horizontal lines at the top of the window).
2. Right-click in the empty space of the folder.
3. Hover over Group By and select None to remove the visual headers.
4. Now, look at the column headers at the very top of the list (Name, Date Modified, Size, Kind).
5. Click directly on the word Kind.

The files will now be sorted purely by their file type from top to bottom, without being artificially separated into distinct visual groups.