Sort and filter files



By default, Adobe Bridge sorts files that appear in the Content panel by filename. You can sort files differently by using the Sort command or Sort By application bar button.

You can control which files appear in the Content panel by choosing criteria in the Filter panel. You can filter by rating, label, file type, keywords, and date created or date modified, among other criteria.

Criteria that appear in the Filter panel are dynamically generated depending on the files that appear in the Content panel and their associated metadata or location. For example, if the Content panel contains audio files, the Filter panel contains artist, album, genre, key, tempo, and loop criteria. If the Content panel contains images, the Filter panel contains such criteria as dimensions, orientation, and camera data such as exposure time and aperture value. If the Content panel displays search results or a collection with files from multiple folders, or if the Content panel displays flat view, the Filter panel contains a Parent Folder that lets you filter the files by the folder where they’re located.

Specify that Adobe Bridge show or hide folders, rejected files, and hidden files (such as cache files) in the Content panel by choosing options from the View menu.

Sort files

  • Choose an option from the View > Sort menu, or click the Sort button in the application bar to sort files by listed criteria. Choose Manually to sort by the last order in which you dragged the files. If the Content panel displays search results, a collection, or flat view, the Sort button contains a By Folder option that lets you sort files by the folder where they’re located.
  • In List view, click any column header to sort by that criteria.

Filter files

Control which files appear in the Content panel by selecting one or more criteria in the Filter panel. The Filter panel displays the number of items in the current set that have a specific value, regardless of whether they are visible. For example, by glancing at the Filter panel, you can quickly see how many files have a specific rating or keyword.

 In the Filter panel, select one or more criteria:

  • Select criteria in the same category (for example, file types) to display files that meet any of the criteria. For example, to display both GIF and JPEG files, select CompuServe GIF and JPEG file beneath File Type.

  • Select criteria across categories (for example, file types and ratings) to display files that meet all of the criteria. For example, to display GIF and JPEG files that have two stars, select CompuServe GIF and JPEG file beneath File Type and two stars beneath Ratings.

    Shift-click rating criteria to select that rating or higher. For example, Shift-click two stars to display all files that have two or more stars.

  • Select categories from the Filter panel menu.

    Select Expand All or Collapse All from the Filter panel menu to open or close all filter categories.

  • Alt-click (Windows) or Option-click (Mac OS) to inverse selected criteria. For example, if you’ve selected CompuServe GIF beneath File Type, Alt-click CompuServe GIF to deselect it and select all the other file types listed.

    Note: If you filter a closed stack, Adobe Bridge displays the stack only if the top (thumbnail) item meets the filter criteria. If you filter an expanded stack, Adobe Bridge displays all files in the stack that meet the filter criteria of the top file.

Clear filters

 Click the Clear Filter button  at the bottom of the Filter panel.

Lock filters

To prevent filter criteria from clearing when you navigate to another location in Adobe Bridge, click the Keep Filter When Browsing button  at the bottom of the Filter panel.