Here's how you can make sure List View is default for all Finder windows.
Make sure you are in Finder:
Hold down Command key and press Tab several times until you hear 'Finder'. Then let go of Command.
Start with a clean Desktop:
Press Command-w several times in a row, to close all extraneous open Finder windows.
Move to the root folder:
Press Command-n to open a new finder window.
Press Command-up arrow several times, until you hear the name of your computer. Mine says 'Nicholas MacBook Pro'.
This moves the current window to the most root-window, which should contain any mounted drives.
Changing this window to List View:
Press Command-two to switch this particular view to List View.
Show the View Options settings:
Press Command-j to open the View Options settings panel.
In this panel, check the boxes for the following settings:
Near the top:
Always open in list view, checked.
Browse in list view, checked.
The middle settings in this panel are your choice, customize at will.
When you are finished, near the bottom of the Panel:
Click the 'Use as Defaults', button
When you are completely done, press Command-w several times to put this panel away, along with all open Finder windows.
Then try it by pressing Command-n to open a new Finder window, it should already be in list view along with all newly opened Finder windows, by default.
Comments
Shortcut Key
When you've got the Finder opened, press Command+2 to switch to List View.
Using List View as default
Using List View as default
Here's how you can make sure List View is default for all Finder windows.
Make sure you are in Finder:
Hold down Command key and press Tab several times until you hear 'Finder'. Then let go of Command.
Start with a clean Desktop:
Press Command-w several times in a row, to close all extraneous open Finder windows.
Move to the root folder:
Press Command-n to open a new finder window.
Press Command-up arrow several times, until you hear the name of your computer. Mine says 'Nicholas MacBook Pro'.
This moves the current window to the most root-window, which should contain any mounted drives.
Changing this window to List View:
Press Command-two to switch this particular view to List View.
Show the View Options settings:
Press Command-j to open the View Options settings panel.
In this panel, check the boxes for the following settings:
Near the top:
Always open in list view, checked.
Browse in list view, checked.
The middle settings in this panel are your choice, customize at will.
When you are finished, near the bottom of the Panel:
Click the 'Use as Defaults', button
When you are completely done, press Command-w several times to put this panel away, along with all open Finder windows.
Then try it by pressing Command-n to open a new Finder window, it should already be in list view along with all newly opened Finder windows, by default.
Hope this helps.
Best regards.