7 tips to manage your files better

You work with documents, presentations, graphics, and other files all day—and chances are, you have a lot of them. And that means it takes time to find the documents you need. Even if it's just a couple of minutes here, and a couple of minutes there, it all adds up.

But there is a better way to stop the file clutter—by managing your files more effectively. Digital files are no different than paper files, and if you don't have a good method of organization, things get lost.

Whether you save your files on your computer's hard drive or a shared network location, these tips will help you save the time and headache of searching for files. And if you haven't already familiarized yourself with the search features in Windows Vista, this is the perfect time to learn more.

Check out the reader tips. We've gotten hundreds of great comments on this article from the content feedback tool at the bottom of the page. And many of you left tips you use to organize and find your files. We updated this article to include some of the tips we received.

7 tips for managing your files

Use these tips to help manage your files.

1. Use Documents. For many reasons, it's smart to take advantage of the Documents feature (called My Documents in Windows XP and earlier versions) in Microsoft Windows. To open Documents in Windows, click Start, and then click Documents. Documents provides an easy way for you to store your personal documents.

   By using Documents, you will be better able to:

   • Find files. Windows provides easy access to the Documents folder (and its subfolders) in many places: through the Start menu, the task pane in Windows Explorer, common File Open and File Save dialog boxes, and other places.

   • Back up files. You should back up files regularly—and keeping all your files in one place helps make backup a snap.

   • Keep files separate from programs. By separating document files and program files you reduce the risk of accidentally deleting your documents when you install or upgrade programs.

2. Adopt consistent methods for file and folder naming. Develop a naming scheme for the kinds of files you create most often and then stick to it.

3. Keep names short. Even though Windows allows you to use long file names, it does not necessarily mean you should. Long file names are harder to read.

   Let your folder structure do some of the naming. For example, rather than create a file called Great American Novel Chapter One First Effort.doc, you can build a structure like:

   

4. Separate ongoing and completed work. To keep the Documents folder from becoming too unwieldy, use it only for files you're actively working on. As a result, you can reduce the number of files you need to search through and the amount of data you need to back up. Every month or so, move the files you're no longer working on to a different folder or location, such as a folder on your desktop, a special Archive folder, flash drive, external hard drive, or even on a CD.

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6. Store like with like. Restricting folders to a single document type (or predominantly one type) allows you to take advantage of folder templates in Windows Explorer. This makes it easier for you to find files. For example, with all your graphics in a single folder, it's easy to use the Filmstrip view and slide show feature in Windows Explorer to find the right picture for your newsletter.

7. Avoid big folder structures. If you need to put so many subfolders in a folder that you can't see all of them at a glance, consider creating an alphabetic menu.

   

8. Use shortcuts and shortcut links instead of multiple copies. If you need to get to the same file from multiple locations, don't create copies of the file. Create shortcuts to it instead. To create a shortcut, right-click on the file and click Create Shortcut. You can drop and drag the shortcut to other locations.

8 reader tips

Thanks to all the readers who left their own helpful tips and comments on this article.

1. Use abbreviations. Keep file names short by using common abbreviations, such as "MTG" for meeting or "ACTG" for accounting. This makes the file names more descriptive and you can more easily find files through Search if it's necessary.

2. Use thumbnails. Search through folders in the Thumbnail view. They're easier to see and you can put a picture or clip art on the folder (see how below) so that it's more easily recognizable. For example, a folder that contains information about a product can have a picture of the product—or something else that reminds you of the folder contents.

   To view your folder list in Thumbnail view, on the Documents folder, in the toolbar click View and then select Thumbnail.

   To put a picture on the folder, right-click the folder and click Properties. In the Properties dialog box, click the Customize tab. In the Folder pictures area, click Choose Picture.

3. Use common names. To make it easier to search for documents, name your files and folders with easily found names, such as model numbers, project names, or the project lead in the title.

4. Don't save unnecessary files. Be selective about the files you keep. You probably don't need to keep them all. With e-mail, for example, you rarely need to keep everything you receive.

5. Use Recent Items. To find a file you just worked on, use Recent Items (called My Recent Documents in XP) in the Start menu.

6. Put Documents on the desktop. Put a shortcut to Documents on the desktop. You can save several clicks of the mouse to get where you want to be sooner.

7. Organize files by dates. Use a date in the document name. Such as jeb100201, which would mean October 2, 2001. This puts all the Jeb materials together and sorted by date.

8. Color code your folders. I have a third party program which allows me to "color" certain folders in Documents that I use every day. This allows me quick access to open or save a document