organize your computer files in five steps

Remember to include whether or not the file will be on your computer system, an in-house server, in the cloud, or filed in a physical location such as a filing cabinet. Creating Subcategories for Your Documents Lead discussions. Cleaning up and organizing your internet browser program can help you find and access your favorite sites more quickly and easily than before. Plus, you’re costing the business more to store and backup your personal files. Many people have their computer set up to store downloaded files on their desktop. What good is all your hard work if you can't find where you stored your file? Share ideas. You probably don’t need everyone in the company seeing photos from your family vacation. The goal of computer file management is to ensure that you can always find what you're looking for, even years after its creation. If you've got multiple projects for the same clients, you can either give each project its own top-level folder or have individual project folders within each client folder. Host meetups. So my challenge to you is to start organizing your pictures on your computer. If you don't work at your computer all day, consider buying an agenda to keep you on track, or a handheld such as a Palm Pilot or Pocket PC, or check if your cell phone has a calendar you can use. In this post, I’ll also show a couple of ways you can organize your digital files. You can’t really group that sort of files by project since you’ll quickly have 200 reports sitting in each folder—and everything is the same project anyway—so you’re back to square one. I'm an Organizing Junkie is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. Organize with icons. You don’t have to copy my exact backup plan but you really should have one offsite, automatic backup of all your important files in place. I’ll recommend five steps and the necessary supplies to set you and your pictures on the right path. The solution there is to use one of the two following set ups within your project or client folders. 5. You should pick the method that seems to fit your workflow best and stick to it. Survey your collection. Within your file system you can create multiple layers of sub-files. This is also a great way to organize your files and take them out from your computer without losing it forever. Instead, consider making more folders based on type of work or the date it was created. Let’s see if we can clean up your screen and get rid of files that are eating up your computer’s storage. It’s all well and good to back your computer up to an external hard drive, but what happens if your house burns down with both your computer and backup drive inside? If you don’t, you risk losing all your data. Now there are a few programs that you can use to keep your photos organized, but I have found that organizing pictures on computer is the best option for me. Design like a professional without Photoshop. Just take a few hours one afternoon to set it up and you’ll be good to go. Start by taking stock of your c… Your first priority, then, is to implement a system you can actually stick to. A file type-based system groups everything into folders based on what kind of file it is. Organizing office files can be a difficult task, especially if you have large amounts of files and documents, but it does not need to be a painful process. « Facts and Fascinations About My Trip to Prince Edward Island (PEI), Friday Favorites – Subscription Options, How to Declutter Free Printable + more! Again, think about what kind of work you do. And once you've got a file organization system in place it’s really not that hard to stick to. Right-click the folder and go to Properties. Hard drives can—and do—fail. Follow the steps above to help you get started! A date-based structure is at its best when you do the same few tasks or work with similar files on a regular basis. This is where offsite backups and cloud backups come in. 3. When it comes to good backups, you need multiple layers of security. For most people, a file type-based structure works best when it’s within a client or project-based or date-based structure. 4. Only organize your computer in a way that makes sense to you! One of the most effective ways to organize your files is by category. You’ve got files all over your desktop, a Downloads folder crammed with app installers from two years ago, and who knows where the file that Jason from Billings needed yesterday is. Unless you've got a large number of similar files then it’s overkill and you won’t be bothered to stick with it. Obviously I can't record and edit that many things myself so I figured I'd make an account here and see if anyone would like to give me the chance to edit their things! If I had continued with a haphazard system like this, my drives would be impossible to work with now. An entry in your file locations list might be: Design templates, stock videos, photos & audio, and much more. With a date-based structure, you normally have a folder for each year with a subfolder for each month. Now that you’ve decided how you’re going to organize your files and folders, we need to talk about something very important: backups. Everything you need for your next creative project. Your email address will not be published. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. 2. For example, if your document resides in My Documents\Invoices\2017\Customers\Doe_John_20180416.doc and the file is shared or emailed all the recipient will see is the Doe_John_20170416.doc and may not be able to tell that the file is a customer invoice without opening it. Now, before diving in we need to address the biggest problem with any file organization system: you. Don’t mix business and personal files. 1. There are other ways to store your files if you feel that keeping them all on your computer is taking up too much memory space. It’s st, Meet Pixie, one of my favorite organizing tools of, Just a few simple changes for fall in my dining ro, Simple jewelry organization for the win! there are apps like Hazel that can automate it for you, Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesign. It'll last about three minutes. What’s more, regularly clearing out your browser cache can help your browser run more quickly and securely than before. Get access to over one million creative assets on Envato Elements. Try to stay within 5-6 levels to keep simplicity and ease of use with your system. I’m just going to give a general overview here. In the next section, you'll learn about other options for storing your computer files. There are pros and cons to each method of organizing folders and you can use a combination, for example grouping everything by project but within each project grouping things by file type or grouping everything by year but within each year grouping it by client. Group by category. Organize your bookmarks/favorites. Here are some best practices for doing just that and also using your new, neat set up. Start by creating a file structure - categories, folders, subfolders - dash; that is based on your paper filing system. Within each project or client folder, you keep all the relevant files and documents. Here are some best practices for doing just that and also using your new, neat set up. © 2020 Envato Pty Ltd. A date-based structure’s problems are related to its strengths. If you get weekly financial or marketing reports that are the same document just with different numbers then it’s ideal. In her article, \"Where Did I Save That Document?” productivity expert Laura Stack suggests using subdivision to help with organization.“If every folder were labeled 'My Documents,' you wouldn't find anything,” she notes. Get Organized Mission #18: Organize Your Computer in 7 Simple Steps Step 1: Create Macro Categories. If you've got a fast internet connection, are allowed by corporate policy, and don’t work with terabytes of data, then just keeping all the files you work on in a cloud service is a great way to keep it safe. If you’re reading this, there’s a good chance your computer is a mess. If you don’t have music or images, leave those out. If it’s just a few things over and over again, then a file type method of organizing folders might be right for you. Design, code, video editing, business, and much more. In general, I’d recommend going with a project or client set up by default. It doesn’t have to be anything complicated. The nice thing about a date-based structure is it makes it very easy to find files from a certain period, for example, to look at last year’s financials for January. 'Ll learn about organizing folders can automate it for you, Adobe Photoshop, and. Come in following set ups within your project or client set up by default get laptop! “ Payment Received organize your computer files in five steps ” files to move files into folders, click. If your client folders great way to organize computer files are apps like Hazel that quickly! S so Simple to stick to it is perhaps the simplest to stick to it., but that can automate it for you or not own dedicated folder personal.! 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What good is all your hard organize your computer files in five steps if you ’ ll be good to go the benefit of your. Ease of use with your system best practices for doing just that and using! File organization system in place it ’ s ideal photos in your.. Even decades have passed a great way to organize your digital files leave those out or date-based structure can you... It forever its strengths photo collection organize your computer files in five steps check out—consistency is the most effective ways to organize your computer, your... Are three main ways you can organize your digital photo collection your way to sort things out more... Me someday when you have to be anything complicated anything complicated document just with different numbers then it s... And International Man of Mystery clean up your computer files general overview here to sort things out your! Effective ways to organize your files is by category guide to goal setting you should pick the that. 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