How to Add Column & Settings to All Subfolders in a Folder in Windows 10/8/7

If you have a specific column that you'd like to see in a folder and all its subfolders, you can easily apply the column setting to all folders. Let me show how you can add a column to all subfolder in a folder.
Generally, the Details view is my preferred view type in the File Explorer. Mainly because it is compact and gives you a ton of information about any given file. Moreover, you can easily add additional columns to the details view of a folder to extend the information at glance. For instance, I add a length column to the videos folder to see how long the videos are.

Though the Details view is pretty good. The problem arises when you try to add custom columns to multiple folders. That is, the column is only added to that specific folder. It will not be applied to all the other subfolders in the target folder.
For example, if you have a dedicated video folder that contains several movie and tv show subfolders and set the "length" column on the video folder, the change will no propagate to its sub-folders. Simply put, you have to manually go through each folder and set the length column.
The thing is, you don't have to do that. You can force File Explorer to apply column settings to all subfolders in a folder. Follow the below steps and you will be good.
Add Columns to All SubFolders in a Folder in File Explorer
Considering how many options File Explorer has, it might be a bit harder for users to find the option. However, it is really easy to apply folder settings to all subfolders.
1. First, open the File Explorer and go to the folder where you want to add the column. Next, right-click on the column heading and select the column you'd like to add.
Note: If you can't find the column you've like to add in the list, click on the More option to see a whole lot of column options.

2. Once you've added the column, click on the View tab and then click on the Options button.

3. The above action will open the Folder Options window. Here, go to the View tab and click on the Apply to Folders button.

4. Click Yes in the confirmation window to continue.
That is all. From this point forward, you will see the column added to all the subfolder as long as they are of the same folder type.
Wrapping Up
Keep in mind that the column will also be added to other folders of the same folder type. For instance, if you've added the length column to the video folder type, the column will be added to all the folders of the same folder type in your hard drive.
You can change the folder type of any folder. To do that, right-click on the folder, select Properties, go to Customize tab and select the folder type from the drop-down menu under What kind of folder do you want?.
That is all. It is that simple to apply column settings to folders and subfolders in Windows. If you are stuck or need some help, comment below and I will try to help as much as possible.
If you like this article, do check out how to open multiple File Explorer Windows and how to stop File Explorer from grouping files by date in the downloads folder.
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