How to group files by kind in Finder on Mac: toolbar, View menu, and fixes

Grouping by kind is the fastest way to stop scrolling through a messy folder. Finder splits the window into labeled sections, and each section holds one type of file. Documents sit in one block, images in another, and installers in a third. You see every file of one type at once. You stop hunting through one long list.

Why group files by kind at all?

Searching costs time. Adobe's 2023 survey of 1,118 employed Americans found that over 1 in 10 employees spent more than four hours a week searching for digital documents. The same Adobe article says 48 percent of respondents named difficulty finding documents quickly as a top organizational issue. The survey covers documents in general, not files sorted by kind. Treat those numbers as context, not as proof about your own Mac.

The survey is a useful reminder, not a measurement of Finder. Your own folders may be tidy, or they may be a disaster. Grouping by kind gives you a quick way to see which situation you are in. Downloads is a common place to start, because it collects files from every app and website you use.

Group files by kind with the Group button

Apple's guide gives the most direct route. Open any Finder window and look at the toolbar along the top. Click the Group button, then choose Kind. Apple lists Kind next to Date Last Opened and Size, so the same menu covers those too. Apple says grouping works in any Finder view, so you do not need to switch to List view first.

Here is what you should see. The window keeps its usual look, but the files now sit under section headings. Each heading names a kind. Files that share a kind sit together under that heading.

Use View > Use Groups when the Group button is missing

Some Macs show a different route, and the sources differ a little here. MacMost's video from January 2026 uses the menu bar. Choose View > Use Groups. Grouping turns on, and the Group By options appear. Then choose Kind from Group By. MacMost's video refers to macOS Tahoe, so compare the labels with your own menus before you rely on them.

Why does Group By vanish? Group By only appears after grouping is on. Many people look for it straight away, see nothing, and assume the feature is missing. Turn on Use Groups first. Then the option appears.

Set Group By in View Options with ⌘J

View > Show View Options, or ⌘J, opens the same settings. Group By lives there. It stays hidden until Use Groups is on. Pick Kind, then close the panel. If the menu looks empty, go back to View > Use Groups and reopen the panel with ⌘J. Changes apply to the window you have open.

Why Apple and MacMost describe different menus

Apple's Organize your files guide describes a Group button in the toolbar. The Apple pages checked did not name a View menu Group By item. MacMost describes View > Use Groups, then Group By. These are not the same path on paper. Both sources end in the same place, a window grouped by Kind. Check the toolbar first. If the button is not there, use the View menu.

Apple's pages carry a version label, but the release notes did not load for this check. What changed in the newest release is not confirmed here. Use the steps on this page as a starting point, then check your own menus.

Icon view and Clean Up By

Icon view has its own sorting command. Apple's sorting guide says to choose View > Clean Up By, then pick an option such as Date Created or Kind. Clean Up By is a separate command from Group. Use Clean Up By when you want Icon view arranged by Kind. Use Group when you want sections. Check the result on your Mac, because the sources here did not show how Clean Up By looks next to Group.

What grouping changes, and what it leaves alone

Grouping is a view setting. It changes how Finder arranges the files in one window. It does not move a file, rename it, or change what kind it is. The files stay in the same folder, so grouping is safe to try. If you do not like the result, return the setting to what it was before.

Grouping does not decide what to keep. It only shows you the same files in a new order. That makes it a good first step before any cleanup, because nothing is removed while you look.

Pick Kind, Date Last Opened, or Size

Kind answers what is this file. Date Last Opened answers when did I last use it. Size answers what is taking up room. Apple lists all three in the same menu, so you can switch when your question changes. Use Kind when you are tidying by type. Use Date Last Opened when you are clearing out old work.

Grouping helps most in a mixed folder. A folder that holds only photos gets one section, so grouping adds little. Downloads and Desktop are where kind groups pay off, because they hold documents, images, installers, and archives side by side.

Group the Desktop with Stack By

The Desktop works a little differently. MacMost says the Desktop uses Stack By, so choose Stack By > Kind. Stacks change how Desktop files look on screen. The files themselves stay where they are, just as they do with grouping. Use this route when your goal is a tidy Desktop instead of a Finder window.

Sort inside each kind group in List view

Grouping sorts files into sections, but the order inside each section may not suit you. Switch to List view with ⌘2. Then Option-click a column heading. MacMost says this sorts within the groups. Option-click Size, and each kind section sorts by size.

Sort By in View Options sets the order for the whole window. Use it when you want one order across every section. Open View > Show View Options, or press ⌘J, then find the Sort By pop-up menu.

A worked example: find the big files in Downloads

Say your Downloads folder has become a pile. Open it in Finder and press ⌘2 for List view. Then click the Group button and choose Kind. Each section now gathers one file type. Installers sit with installers. Photos sit with photos.

Option-click the Size heading, and each section sorts by size. Now you can see the largest installer, the biggest video, and the heaviest archive without scrolling past everything else.

Read the names before you delete anything. Move only the files you no longer need to the Trash. Grouping shows where the space goes, but it does not decide what to keep.

Mistakes people make with grouping

• Looking for Group By before turning on Use Groups. The option stays hidden until grouping is on.
• Expecting files to move. Grouping only changes the window, so files stay in their folder.
• Mixing up Group and Sort. Grouping creates sections. Sort By in View Options sets the order inside them.
• Trusting one set of labels. Compare the steps here with your own menus, because the sources describe different routes.

Reuse the layout for other folders

Once a window looks right, you can reuse the settings. Open View > Show View Options, or press ⌘J. Click Use as Defaults. Apple says this applies the settings to other folders with the same view. The button is not available in Column view, so switch to Icon or List view first.

If new windows open in the wrong place, change the default folder for new windows in Finder. That is a separate setting from the view options on this page.

What to do next

Try one folder for a week. If the kind sections help, set the same view on your other folders with Use as Defaults. If you also tag files, add a tag to a file in Finder gives you a second way to find things. Tags and kinds answer different questions, so use both where they fit.

Where Lazur fits in

Lazur does not change Finder for you. It does not click Group or pick Kind. It points. Hold ⌥ ⌘ and ask where the Group button is. Lazur draws a circle and a label around it on your screen. Ask for the whole sequence, and Lazur guides you one click at a time, waiting for each click before the next step.

Ask follow-up questions while you work. Ask why Kind is missing from the menu, or ask Lazur to show you the View menu. Lazur answers out loud and points at the next item. You stay in control of every click.

Lazur is a voice assistant for the Mac that lives in the notch. It answers out loud and points at things in any app on screen. It runs on Apple silicon and Intel Macs. Windows is planned, not available. The trial is 3 days, with no credit card. Check the pricing page for plans, or download Lazur to try it.