Tips on Organizing Your PC's Files

If you don’t take care of your PC’s files, you will soon discover that it’s easy to lose track of where exactly everything is. You have many, many file types, folders, and applications sitting around without any real sense of organization or continuity. Below we'll focus on how to help you better organize your files in a way that is simple to comprehend. You should be able to do so in either your operating system file explorer or in your cloud-based file storage.

There are three ways you can organize your files. You can distribute them based on clients (or projects), dates, or file types. Today we're going to focus on how it can be beneficial to organize your files based on the file type.

A file-based setup helps you group all files in folders designed to hold a specific file type. For example, if you have a lot of ebooks they would be placed in a folder that is labeled “ebooks,” meaning they are all located in the same place, not all over your desktop or Downloads folder. This file organization method focuses on making sure all files are in places where they belong. This could take some work, but its well worth the effort.

If you work for a business, they are probably using a shared network of some sort with its own custom file storage nomenclature; thus, be sure to do your research before making any major changes in file storage.

Tip #1: Stick to Your Filing System

Once you’ve made your choice on a filing system, it’s imperative to stick to it. File things away as soon as you can; this keeps folders like Downloads from getting too out of control. Additionally, you reduce the risk of misplacing files by putting them in the right location as soon as possible.

Tip #2: Avoid the Desktop & Download Folders

It might be tempting to just choose your desktop or the downloads folder for storing files, but you should avoid doing so at all costs. The issue arises from the fact that your desktop only has so much real estate, meaning that it will fill up before long and leave you with a spectacular mess to clean up. If you put the files where they are supposed to go as soon as possible, you can circumvent clutter and wasted time by knowing exactly where files are located soon after the download.

Tip #3: Sort Once a Week

If you aren’t able to file away files where they belong immediately, you need to make it a point to do it periodically. We suggest once every week or once every 10 days. If you go any longer than this, chances are it will get pretty messy.

Tip #4: Naming Practices

A great way to sort out of your files, even in folders, is to use a naming convention that distinguishes them from each other. That being said, having a ton of files with the same names will be confusing. Thus, you should shoot for specifics when putting together file names.

Managing your files doesn’t have to be difficult. Macro Systems can help you out with that. To learn more, reach out to us at 703-359-9211.