If you have a directory with lots of files, sometimes you might want to be sure a select group of files appear at the top or bottom of the alphabetical listing. While you cannot redefine the alphabet, you can use some tricks to get Windows to display them in the order you like.

Windows sorts files using it’s “alphabetic” value. A number has a lower value than the letter “A”, 3.txt would appear before a.txt in alphabetical order. So you can manipulate the order of listing by doing something like so:

- Add special chars to make files appear at the top of a list. Special chars such as _ and ! appear before files beginning with a number.
- Add a number to the beginning of a file name to make it appear before files starting with a letter.
- Add “zz” to any file name you want to appear at the bottom.

Use your imagination and come up with a system which works for you.