[Windows 10 Fix] Text in Files and Folders Names Aligned to the Left Instead of Center

Recently an AskVG reader contacted me regarding this problem:

Is it possible to change the text under icons in explorer to be centered and not aligned to the left (Windows 10 v1703)?

Actually many Windows 10 users are suffering from this problem. This problem started after release of Windows 10 Anniversary Update version 1607 and still present in newer Windows 10 versions.

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In this problem, if the folder view is set to icons and a file or folder name is longer, the icons text is aligned to the left instead of center as shown in following screenshot:

Icons_Text_Left_Aligned_Windows_10.png

This issue occurs only in File Explorer. The icons text on Desktop is always aligned to center.

In previous Windows versions, the icon text was always aligned to center which has been changed in newer Windows 10 versions. Some people consider it as a bug and some consider it as a feature by design.

If you are also getting annoyed by this issue and want to force Windows to align the icons text to center, this tutorial will help you.

We can reset the icons text to center justified with the help of a small registry tweak.

If you can remember, long time back we posted a tutorial to disable full row select and auto arrange functionality in Windows Explorer of Windows 7 and later Windows versions:

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[Windows Tip] Disable Full Row Select and Auto-Arrange Features in Windows Explorer

The same registry trick can be used to force Windows 10 to always show icons text aligned to the center instead of left.

To fix this issue, download following ZIP file, extract it and run the extracted REG file. It’ll ask for confirmation, accept it:

You may need to restart your computer or restart Explorer to take effects.

That’s it. Now check files and folders names in File Explorer and all icons text will be aligned to center as shown in following screenshot:

Icons_Text_Center_Aligned_Windows_10.png

The ZIP file also contains a restore registry script to restore default settings in Windows Explorer.

PS: As a bonus this registry script will also disable full row select functionality in details view of Windows Explorer. It’ll also add “Auto arrange” and “Align to grid” options to the right-click context menu in File Explorer.

BONUS TIP:

If you want, you can change and apply same folder view type settings to all folders easily using following steps:

1. In File Explorer, open any desired folder and customize its view type to your desired view such as details, large icons, etc.

2. Now open Folder Options (from Ribbon -> View).

3. Go to View tab in Folder Options and click on “Apply to Folders” button.

That’s it. It’ll immediately apply current folder view type settings to all folders in your computer.

Published in: Troubleshooting Guides, Windows 10

About the author: Vishal Gupta (also known as VG) has been awarded with Microsoft MVP (Most Valuable Professional) award. He holds Masters degree in Computer Applications (MCA). He has written several tech articles for popular newspapers and magazines and has also appeared in tech shows on various TV channels.

Comments

NOTE: Older comments have been removed to reduce database overhead.

  1. Thank you for this, it worked well until my 4-year-old daughter pointed out that tiles view is not available. So came here looking for an answer regarding that and saw you’ve given the method to restore the registry back. Thank you for both solutions. Keep doing the good work, good day!!

  2. hello, can you help me? I didn’t quite understand everything, but I run the reg anyway and it didn’t work. So now I wanted to remove it. I don’t quite understand your explanation. Could you perhaps explain it step by step?; if it’s not too much of a trouble.

  3. ^^ The ZIP file also contains a restore registry script to restore default settings in Windows Explorer.

  4. Unfortunately this breaks the tile view of drives so they no longer show the space available. Is there any way to fix the centered text without breaking tile view?

  5. Hi
    Your registry file causes 2 problems:

    1- It disables the grid align feature.
    2- When you create a new folder, you need to press F2 to able to rename it, the focus is not on the name field from beginning.

    Do you know any workaround for these?

    Thanks

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