You can also right-click on a folder and select Explore to open that folder using Windows Explorer. You may already have some shortcuts on your desktop that point to locations on your hard drive you will frequently use with Windows Explorer, such as My Computer and My Documents. My Computer shows you a list of all the drives installed on your system, including floppy drives and USB drives.
The drive on which Windows is installed is usually displayed as the C: drive when you double-click on My Computer to open it using Windows Explorer. My Documents shows the location where Windows saves documents by default when you save them from an application such as Microsoft Word. Windows XP is a multi-user system, meaning that several users can use the same computer and each will have their own My Documents Folder.
You can view the folders for all the users who have accounts on your computer by opening the folder Documents and Settings, which is on the root or upper-most level of your C: drive. Under Documents and Settings, Windows creates a folder with the login name of each user who has an account on your computer.
If you do not see these shortcuts for My Computer and My Documents on your desktop, you can make them visible by right-clicking on an empty area of your desktop and selecting Properties, then clicking on the Desktop Tab, and finally the Customize Desktop button.
At the top of the window, you will see a series of checkboxes you can check to make the My Computer and My Documents shortcuts visible on your desktop. To launch Windows Explorer, simply click on one of these shortcuts once they are visible on your desktop or right-click and select Explore.
The path tells you the drives, folders and subfolders you would have to open to get to this folder, beginning with the root of the drive. You can display thumbnails useful if your folder contains a lot of pictures , icons which are listed from left to right , a list which contains smaller icons displayed in columns from top to bottom , and details which displays columns with additional information about each file or folder such as the time it was last modified and its size.
You can also use the Arrange Icons by option to change the way your files and folders are sorted in the main Explorer Window. The main Explorer window is divided into two panes. There are many different types of files you can use. For example, Microsoft Word documents, digital photos, digital music, and digital videos are all types of files.
You might even think of a file as a digital version of a real-world thing you can interact with on your computer. When you use different applications, you'll often be viewing , creating , or editing files.
Files are usually represented by an icon. In the image below, you can see a few different types of files below the Recycle Bin on the desktop. Windows uses folders to help you organize files. You can put files inside a folder , just like you would put documents inside a real folder. In the image below, you can see some folders on the desktop. You can view and organize files and folders using a built-in application known as File Explorer called Windows Explorer in Windows 7 and earlier versions.
To open File Explorer, click the File Explorer icon on the taskbar, or double-click any folder on your desktop. A new File Explorer window will appear. Now you're ready to start working with your files and folders. From File Explorer, double-click a folder to open it. You can then see all of the files stored in that folder. Notice that you can also see the location of a folder in the address bar near the top of the window. Then you can add extra steps to the Zap for each additional folder your structure needs.
Looking for more inspiration? See our article that features some of the best ways to add automation to your organizational workflows. Organizing your folder structure is only half the battle. Keeping your computer organized will also require tidying up your file names. Files are made up of two components: the name whatever you decide to call it and the file extension the type of file, like.
You typically don't need to worry about file extensions; they're set by the programs you use, and typically hidden by default on most computers. But you should take control of the file name. For that reason, writer and editor Jill Duffy recommends making sure each file name is:.
Indicative of what the file contains: Is your file an annual report? A to-do list? Put that information in the file name. In line with your business structure: This goes right along with your folder structure.
Scannable: Make sure anyone who quickly glances at the file will understand its name. Here's an example:. Beyond making your file names unique, scannable, and easily understood, the Stanford University Libraries recommends these tips for good file names:. Dates: Always write dates in yyyymmdd or yymmdd format, so your files will naturally fall in chronological order.
In my examples above, I used mmyy because the folders were already organized by year making month the most important descriptor. Length: Be aware that some software programs have character limits on file names.
Include only necessary information in your names, and cut anything superfluous e. This ensures your files or folders will stay lined up how you want them too. Start general then get specific: Since your filenames will naturally be sorted from whatever you type first, start with the most general components year, department, client, etc. A general rule of thumb is whatever you want to see first, write first. Finding files is much easier with a folder structure.
Plus, with well-named files and folders, your computer's search will be an even better tool for finding files. Your new names and folders should be easy to find in seconds.
On a Mac, Spotlight lets you search through your files and emails and preview them to make sure you found what you are looking for. On an iPad or iPhone, just pull down on your homescreen for a simplified Spotlight search to look through emails, notes, and apps on the go—or use the search tool inside the Dropbox or Google Drive app on any phone to find synced files. On a PC running Windows Vista, 7, or 8.
In Windows 10, there's a Cortana search button next to the Start button, which can search for files and folders—and can also look up the weather or search the web. If you want more tools to dig deeper in your folders or launch specific programs automatically, there's also third-party search apps. Alfred is a popular and powerful search tool for Mac, while Launchy is a common pick for Windows searching.
You can also search for files inside apps themselves. Dropbox, Google Drive, and Box let you search through synced files and folders, while Zapier can search inside many of your productivity apps.
Zaps can search for specific files and folders in Box—perhaps to find a client's folder—and then save files from other apps into that folder to help keep everything organized automatically.
If your files and folders are already disorganized—it will take forever to clean up. So start out with this month's files, for example. Then save every new file according to that folder structure. Consider archiving all old files by moving them into an "Old Files" or "Archive" folder. When you have time, you can go through this "Archive" folder and store files using the same folder structure you've already started using for new files.
What folder structure do you use to keep your files organized? We'd love to hear about it in the comments below! Using Dropbox to organize your files? Check out these 12 Hidden Dropbox Features for more ways to organize and quickly find files whenever you need them.
Chelsea Beck contributed this article as a freelancer for Zapier. Why Zapier? How Zapier works. Product tour. Customer stories. Popular ways to use Zapier. Apps that work with Zapier.
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