diff --git a/static/js/attachments_ui.js b/static/js/attachments_ui.js
index 42d52a09b5..2fe92eab29 100644
--- a/static/js/attachments_ui.js
+++ b/static/js/attachments_ui.js
@@ -108,6 +108,7 @@ function render_attachments_ui() {
         },
         $parent_container: $("#attachments-settings").expectOne(),
         init_sort: ["numeric", "create_time"],
+        initially_descending_sort: true,
         sort_fields: {
             mentioned_in: sort_mentioned_in,
         },
diff --git a/static/js/list_widget.js b/static/js/list_widget.js
index 1687ff2d6f..81aee368a3 100644
--- a/static/js/list_widget.js
+++ b/static/js/list_widget.js
@@ -443,6 +443,11 @@ export function create($container, list, opts) {
         widget.set_sorting_function(...opts.init_sort);
     }
 
+    if (opts.initially_descending_sort) {
+        widget.set_reverse_mode(true);
+        opts.$simplebar_container.find(".active").addClass("descend");
+    }
+
     widget.clean_redraw();
 
     // Save the instance for potential future retrieval if a name is provided.