File — An individual item, such as a picture or a document. Folder — A storage container used to hold files or other folders. Subfolder — A folder inside of a folder.
Attempting to move all of your computer’s default folder contents into your filing system may cause your computer (or specific programs) to stop working correctly.
If you’d rather place your filing system inside of a pre-installed folder (e. g. , the Documents folder), keep in mind that you’ll have to navigate to that folder to open the filing system every time you want to use it.
Failing to use the proper installation path can result in program errors down the line. Mac computers don’t give you an option to determine a different installation path.
Windows — Right-click a blank space, select New, click Folder, type in your folder’s name, and press ↵ Enter. Mac — Go to a location in which you want to create a folder, click File, click New Folder, type in your folder’s name, and press ↵ Enter.
For example, your documents folder should be labeled “Documents” or something similar, not “Docs”. A good rule of thumb is to label your folders as though you were creating a filing system for another person to be able to navigate without help.
Windows users cannot create the filing system in the This PC (or My Computer) app.
The “Temporary” folder should always be directly inside of the base folder for easy access.
Documents Music Pictures Videos Work
For example, if your category folder is labeled “Documents”, you might have three subfolders entitled “Word Documents”, “PDFs”, and “Spreadsheets”. You can repeat this process with subfolders as well: open a subfolder, then create a folder inside of it. Think of subfolders as the filing envelopes used in a filing cabinet drawer (where the category folder is the drawer).
On a Windows computer, you can select the files you want to move, press Ctrl+X to copy and delete the files, and then go to the folder location and press Ctrl+V to paste in the files.
Keep in mind that some indexing programs will still show the folder if it’s hidden.
You can also upload your filing system to a cloud storage service such as Google Drive, iCloud Drive, OneDrive, or DropBox. Make sure you hold onto filing system backups for at least one year. This will ensure that, even if your computer is compromised or you delete a file you thought you didn’t need, you’ll be able to access the backup to restore the most recent version.
Never store loose files in a folder that also contains subfolders. Empty the “Temporary” folder at least once per week. Avoid deleting documents, receipts, or other potentially useful items even if you think their usefulness is up. Don’t hang onto expired or useless files. Back up your filing system once per week.
If you’re regularly backing up your filing system to a hard drive or a cloud storage service, do this after backing up the filing system. Removing your filing system’s unnecessary files while saving them in a backup will ensure that you still have access to them if the need arises while keeping your computer’s filing system tight.
You’ll usually use the Save As option when saving a document from a program (e. g. , a Microsoft Word document), while files downloaded from your web browser will usually require you to select a folder or click Browse. . . .
You’ll usually use the Save As option when saving a document from a program (e. g. , a Microsoft Word document), while files downloaded from your web browser will usually require you to select a folder or click Browse. . . .
You’ll usually use the Save As option when saving a document from a program (e. g. , a Microsoft Word document), while files downloaded from your web browser will usually require you to select a folder or click Browse. . . .
Windows — Right-click a file, click Rename in the drop-down menu, type in whatever you want to name the file, and press ↵ Enter. Mac — Click once the file, press the ⏎ Return key, type in whatever you want to name the file, and press ⏎ Return.
