Zen Guide to organizing files and folders
(source: howtogeek.com)
Signs of trouble:
- Desktops with 40 or more icons
- My Files with 300 files and 60 folders
- Only use search function to find files
- All Word files in one folder; all Excel files in one folder, etc.
- Frustration in finding things.
The following discussion applies to all operating systems, Windows, MacOS or Unix. There is no one “best way”. The best way is what works for you so that you can find what you are looking for when you need it. The presumption is that you could do better. I suggest that you think about what you are trying to do, what you create, what you capture (downloads, copy, email, etc.) and who else is involved in what you do: spouse, child, personal, business, videos, photos, music, school, writings, others, and so on.
Take time in this stage to plan, design, brainstorm. It’s important to get it as right as you can because changing later causes pain. Get a large sheet of paper or tape several sheets together and use a pencil so you can place yourself (your computer) in the center and then draw “folders” around you with your major folders in the next “ring” surrounding you, then sub-folders under a folder. The main folders will have sub folders and perhaps sub-sub folders. What makes sense to you? Your pencil and eraser will help with editing. You might take a couple of days to do this. Topic might include: business, fitness, personal, planning, family, marketing, invoices, spiritual, church, brainstorming, follow up, school, kids schedule, investments, taxes, and on and on. Sleep on it and look at it again and again and modify as necessary. Once you decide, execute your plan and stick to it. Also be sure to use your system on ALL the computers you work on especially if files are linked to other files (i.e. a Word file that links to data in an Excel file).
Now, where to put these files. You could partition your main drive to “C” and “D” with the C holding your programs and D as your documents. D could also be a detached drive that you back up elsewhere. Many just leave the “C” drive as is and place everything there with files in a path that looks like this: C:/Documents/Personal/Hobbies. (this is just an example as you file structure will vary.
Don’t be afraid to go several layers deep (sub, sub, sub folders). However, if you are multi-folder deep and only have one file in that folder you probably went too far.
Once you have decided on your structure, you can start moving by drag and drop what you have into the new structure. You will likely need to rename things to fit the new format. Continue to use your new system and when you create a document/file, go ahead, and give it a proper name and place it in the correct folder. When you first save a file, your system will suggest a location, perhaps based on the last save, so you may have to drill down or choose another location to properly place it. If you are going to work on it again soon, create a desktop shortcut/alias. This is a link or pointer to where the file is actually located.
Naming conventions – give meaningful names that relate to the topic/contents. The document in its meta data will have the create date and update/modified date. Don’t make the name a sentence long. Four to six words should do it.
Can a file live in two places at once? Well yes, sort of. Computers use a hierarchical file system so the place you put that file may not be a convenient place from which to access it so that you can work with it. To work with it on your desktop, just create an alias (in MacOS) or a shortcut (in Windows). This allows you to create an icon that just represents the file so you can call it back from deep in your system. Your desktop could just be a collection of several shortcuts of the files you most often need. When you are finished with the file and don’t need to go back to it anytime soon, just delete the shortcut/alias. Keep that desktop clean so it’s not overwhelming.
Creating the shortcut/alias varies with the operating system. Do some searching to learn how for your operating system. For example, on a Mac you could just use a secondary click or “right” click on the file. Windows does it a slightly different way. Here’s an important tip. If you are going to make the alias, be sure to Save or Save As your file first. This way you will have the latest and updated work to go back to. You can even create one for an often-used Folder using essentially the same method as creating one for a file. While we are on the topic, get use to the practice of continuing to save your file as you work on it. Some applications automatically save them for you. Only save what you don’t want to do over again! In summary you can have several alias on your desktop for the things that you are currently working on. When finished, just safely delete the alias and your file is safe.
Mac OS and Windows allow the use of pictures or other files to change the appearance of folders to make it more visually interesting. Google the techniques to see if you want to use this to improve the visual interest.
For your Downloads folder, make it a practice to clean it out daily or at least every few days. Rename the file if needed,and then put it the proper folder out of Downloads. The Downloads folder should just be a temporary place for files.
All programs/applications live in special folder (Macs use “Applications” and Windows use “Program Files”). You should not try to edit or move anything in these folders as it will likely disrupt your use of the program. Just leave those folders alone unless you are an expert.
Some files are deliberately “hidden” from users and that’s for a good reason. If you come across a hidden file (like pagefile.sys in Windows), best to leave it alone.
When you are working on especially large files (over 50 pages in a Word document for example, it is good practice to create different versions so if something happens or the file becomes corrupted you only have lost your most recent work, not days of work. Note: some applications automatically save versions for you. Dig into the app and see what it might be able to do for you to save different versions. Backups can also cover your backside in case of a corrupted file. Best practices should have your files on your laptop or desktop, a local backup on a drive separate from your laptop/desktop and strongly recommend a copy of your files in the cloud using a cloud based backup service (Carbonite, iDrive, Backblaze, and there are more).
Synchronizing uses several techniques to manage files. What you place in a a website like Dropbox , it allows one to share files with other. You can grant permissions to view or edit.
- Dropbox makes the contents available to multiple persons.
- Sharing via operating systems varies between Windows and Mac OS when the users are on the same network. It’s possible but requires special setup for other user to have access to a file.
You might consider have a special folder with information about each piece of software/application that you acquire. Create a file that includes the name, date, price, source, version number, serial number, proof of purchase, plug-ins, etc. This could help you in the event you need to replace your computer after a catastrophe or other major problem.
Windows has its Settings folder that contains vital information such as .pst files for Outlook that stores emails, contacts, and so forth. Mac OS store this type of information in /Library/Preferences. The reason this is mentioned is that your backup of your computer should always include these files and it probably does but you might want to check.
Both Macs and Windows have a special folder that allows users to quickly access files that have recently been opened. In Macs it’s the Recents (surprise) located usually in the Side bar in Finder. Windows 10 does not come with the Recent places option in the navigation pane of File Explorer like Windows 8 or Windows 7. Instead, it has the “Recent files” group inside the Quick Access folder. This is not at all convenient for users who were used to accessing Recent places with one click from the navigation pane
Here are several tips for Mac users to easily access files and folders
- In the Finder, drag the desired folder to right side of the Dock (past the vertical line)
- In the Finder, drag it onto the Sidebar under Favorites or in the iCloud section
- In the Finder, Menu/New Finder Window, then View/Customize Finder Window, then drag the folder to the Tool Bar and put it between the other icons (Action, View, etc.)
- To place a folder on the Desktop without really moving it, select it and then hold the Option+Command keys and drag it to the Desktop. It will appear with a small arrow which indicates it is an “alias” folder. The Folder will actually stay in its original location as this is merely a “pointer” to it.
- Use the keys Shift+Command+G (Go To action) and it brings up a dialog path. Type the path to the folder you want. Be sure to start the path with a tilde ~ so it starts with the home folder. After you do this, the next time you open the Go To command, use the dialog box to see the last five “Go To’s” and select the one you want use again.