Reset view preferences for all mac folders
This would find and delete the files storing view options under your home directory:
find ~ -name .DS_Store -delete
(And don't forget the -name flag — without it it the command would delete everything in your home directory.)
As far as I (and Wikipedia) know, the .DS_Store files mostly store information about folder-specific view options.
To restore a folder to the default view settings,
- Open the View Options panel (Command-J, or View » Show View Options);
- Then hold down the Option key and click the bottom button. With the Option key down, the ‘Use as Defaults’ button will change to ‘Restore to Defaults’.