Sorting your video collection by frame width or height on Windows' File Explorer

You can use File Explorer on Windows to sort videos by its dimensions. But there are a few caveats since not all video files show their width/height by default. For that you need to download extra free codecs.

How to sort videos by frame size on Windows

While this is written for Windows 10, it should be virtually the same on Windows 11.

Open up File Explorer (keyboard shortcut: Windows + E) and navigate to the folder where you wish to sort your videos. Firstly, make sure the view layout is set to “Details” so that the named columns with the details would be visible. There you can either click on “View” found on the top menu, followed by “Add columns” and “Choose columns…” or you can right-click on the column titles and select “More…”.

Now that the “Choose details” window appears, find both “Frame Width” and “Frame height”. You can start typing Frame on the focused item list and it should auto scroll to it. Mark both checkboxes.

You might’ve noticed that not all video files show their width and height. That is because we’re missing some video codecs which could report this information to File Explorer.

Free codecs to fill in the gaps

I’m using the full K-Lite Codec Pack. You can download the full K-Lite Codec Pack for free from CodecGuide.com. During installation, make sure you choose the correct options for you. This codec pack also comes with a video player. If you don’t need it (though I’d personally recommend installing it) or don’t want it to be the default player, choose the appropriate options.

After you’re done with the installation, all (or at least most) of the missing values should now appear and you can sort your videos by width or height.

Conclusion

Now you should be able to sort your videos by their frame dimensions. For example, it can help you sort your 4K videos from your sub-720p ones, or make it easier to differentiate between portrait and landscape sized videos.

If you find that the codec installation “hijacked” some of the system defaults (like file associations, default video/audio player), don’t forget that you can change them back in the Windows Settings app.