Organizing Folders and Files - Basic Classes

In this lesson you will learn:

Folder Organization

You can create folders within other folders to help organize your file system. For example, open Explorer and notice that in the Drives folder there are other folders with folders inside of them, indicated by an arrow or a + sign. When expanded, the structure looks like a branch, with other branching subfolders underneath.

Most programs like Adobe Reader, Photo Shop, Microsoft Office, QuickBooks etc. are automatically placed inside of their own folders when they are installed. The program then saves the data about documents you create inside of those folders somewhere.

Sometimes they are hard to find. If you check the 'Options' or 'Settings' in each program you can find where the default file locations are. You can (and should) then change the location of your data files to a different drive and folder system so you can find them.

Moving the data files gives you control of where your user data is on your computer. You can collect all of your data files in one place for backing them up or finding them as needed. As you change computers through the years, your data files can be restored to the new computer and no data is lost... ever.

Knowing that you do have a choice, you can either save your files to these default system folders that each program sets automatically, or you can create your own structure for your documents. 'My Documents' is for exactly that purpose. Keeping program files separate from your user documents and data files avoids confusion and simplifies backing up your documents.

An example of this technique is QuickBooks, which keeps all of the transactions and account information that you create in a data file INSIDE of the C:/Program Files/QuickBooks folder. Why would you NOT want that? Because if you have to back up that file that has ALL of the financial data you have ever entered into the program, you have to first find it. If you don't, and the program is uninstalled, the directory is removed ALONG WITH YOUR DATA.

When you do find it (Open each program and use the 'Preferences', 'Options' or 'settings' menu), you have to find other data files in other programs too, which are all in different locations. If your computer were to need work, none of the data files could be removed quickly, or restored quickly either.

Folders can be used to group related items together, such as all of the Word documents, or pictures, Videos and data etc. as in My Documents, My Pictures, My Videos etc.. For example, a small business might group all of the inventory files and store them in one folder called Inventory, and these files could even be stored on a separate drive than the Accounting or the Employee record files. Another folder could be for Résumés or work search related files, another for Music, etc., all of which are in ONE folder called 'My Documents' which could contain ALL of the data files, documents, graphics or multimedia files in ONE PLACE.

Learning to manipulate folders to several levels deep is what we will do now.

This is written for 'My Documents' but the illustration illustrates that it can be done anywhere.

This is an example using the Floppy A: drive but applies the same to any drive.

File Organization

File organization is based on folder organization. Because the Operating system takes care of organizing system files the Programs files are loaded into set locations when the program is installed. The only files you have to organize are the ones you create through your day to day computer activities. The files you would be most concerned about organizing are:

Now that you understand the basics of organizing folders, it is just a matter of creating the folders, putting the files you want into that folder and organizing the folders in the order that you choose. Generally I find it better not to 'nest' folders too deeply; three levels is usually the most folders I put inside of each other and there are several reasons for this.

Convenience of popping open the folder and finding the file right away is one reason, but the location of the file is called the 'path' and generally it is easier to keep the path to the file short for reasons that will become clear in later lessons.

For now, happy organization!! I have another name for it: housekeeping. Keeping things organized, neat and easy to find fit well with that description. Housekeeping is covered in another lesson.

Drag and Drop Folders

While moving or copying files is simple enough, copying or moving folders is another thing entirely. A folder contains files and may contain other folders.

NOTE: Be aware that you are performing the operation on the entire contents of the folder: all of its files, other folders and subfolders.

When working with folders always right click and drag to make the menus appear. That way, it ensures that the destination is clearly understood, and that you can choose exactly what it is you want to do. You can always cancel!

You might be wondering how you copy or move folders from one place to another, since all of the folders seem to appear only in the left pane. Here's a review: