How to Sort Lists in Apple Final Cut Pro

Last week, Lew sent me the following question:

“It seems that there’s a very basic error in Final Cut Pro in that the importing media window doesn’t sort alphabetically unless you click on the Name header twice.”

So, I did some research. While it is true that sometimes you may need to double-click the Name column header to sort a list alphabetically, this isn’t an error.

A more accurate set of descriptions would be:

• When you open the Media Import window, the folder you had open when you closed the Media Import window opens and displays the enclosed items in the same sort order they were in when you last closed the Media Import window.
• If a window is sorted in other than Name order, single-clicking the Name column header sorts all enclosed items alphabetically by name.
• If a window is sorted in Name order, clicking the Name column header sorts all enclosed items alphabetically in REVERSE alphabetical order.
• Clicking any column header first sorts all enclosed times in ascending order. Clicking it a second time sorts then in descending order.
• Clicking any column header toggles sorting between ascending and descending order.

If your version of FCP is not behaving this way, trashing FCP preferences may fix it. (Here’s how.)

This behavior holds true for any list displayed in Final Cut Pro, including those in the Browser.