General Suggestions

Organizing your digital files is an important way to make them easier to find in the future, saving you time and reducing stress. Here are some general tips to improve your file organization:

Use Folders and Subfolders
- Think of digital folders as the digital version of the manila file folders you use to keep items in order in a physical filing cabinet. They're like the digital organizers that make keeping your computer files neat and tidy easy, just like you'd do with your important papers. Create folders and subfolders with clear names that reflect their content, and group related files together based on common themes, projects, or purposes.
Name Your Files Consistently
- Develop and follow a way of naming each document in a descriptive, meaningful way. Try to start naming a new document and saving it to the correct location before adding any content!
- Keep file names short but relevant. Include unique identifiers such as project title, version number, or date.
- Use alphanumeric characters i.e. letters (A-Z) and numbers (0-9). Avoid using invalid characters in file names such as *? \ / : # % ~ { }. For example, Land Forms Group Activity #2 10-2023 or LandFormsGroupActivity#2-10-2023
Use the Sort Feature
- When looking at the contents of a folder, change to the List View and click on the column header you wish to Sort by. For example, you can usually sort by name alphabetically, by date, type of file, etc.
Use the Search Feature
- Unlike a physical file cabinet, your computer has a Search feature. You can search by name, date, document type, file contents, and more.
Be Consistent, and Clean Up Regularly
- Set aside time periodically to declutter and organize your digital files. Delete obsolete files, move completed projects to an archive, and update file names.

This page provides information on how to use these techniques to consistently organize your digital work —

Managing Files on Your Computer
Organizing Your Google Drive

Managing Files on Your Computer

You may know someone who has a cluttered desk but still claims to know the location of every item. However, this is likely due to their memory rather than their organizational skills. This method may not be as effective when it comes to managing the constant flow of digital files we encounter daily.

Messy to Organized Desktop

Everything on your Mac — documents, pictures, music, apps, and more—is organized in folders. As you work, you can create new folders to keep yourself organized.

Step 1. Access the Finder

Open Finder by clicking on the smiling face icon located in your Dock (the row of icons at the bottom of your screen). The Finder is where you can navigate through the folders to find documents, applications, images, and more.

Applications — The programs installed on your computer are in this folder.
Your Home Folder — From the Go menu (in the menu bar at the top edge of the screen) select Home. This will show your key folders, including Downloads, Movies, Music, and Pictures.
- Images and videos added to Photos are stored in a PhotosLibrary file in Pictures and are automatically synced to iCloud.

Mac Home Folder

Desktop and Documents should show up in the Sidebar under iCloud.
- iCloud should already be set to manage your Desktop and Documents folders so that everything you save to these locations will automatically sync to iCloud. Check these settings if Desktop and Documents show inside your Home folder instead of iCloud.
- The Documents folder is the best place to organize your files.
- Use the Desktop for temporary documents or projects and then file or delete those files when finished.

Right-click (Control-click or two-finger click on the trackpad) to create a New Folder Step 2. Create a New Folder and give it a Descriptive Name

Once in Finder, navigate to the location where you want to create a new folder (e.g., Desktop, Documents, or a specific folder).
Choose New Folder from the File menu. (You can also click with two fingers on your trackpad or hold the Control Key and click with one finger to display a pop-up menu to select New Folder.)
The new folder will be named 'untitled folder.' Click on the name, pause briefly, then click on the name again to select the text and rename it. (If you double-click quickly, the folder will open instead of allowing you to rename it. You can use this same process to rename any document or file as well.)

Move to Folder Mac Step 3. Move Files Into the Folder

To add files to your newly created folder, simply drag and drop them onto the folder icon in Finder. Do not release the mouse until the tip of the cursor highlights the folder icon.)
Select multiple files by clicking on one and then holding Shift while clicking on another. Release the shift key, then point to one of the selected files and drag it into the desired folder. All of the selected files will be moved.

Finding Your Documents

Once you have your files organized into Folders, finding a document when you need it should be much easier (and less stressful!). As a convenience, use the Recents shortcut in the sidebar to locate items you have recently worked on easily.

Mac Recently Opened Files

Use the Sort feature by changing the view to Columns, then click on a column header to sort by that column. Click the column again to toggle between ascending and descending order.

Mac Sort Folder Items

The Search button in a Finder window will let you search for a document in a folder or anywhere on your Mac. Spotlight Search (the magnifying glass in the Menu Bar at the top right of your screen) can help you find apps, documents, emails and messages that contain a word or phrase, search the web, and even perform calculations quickly.

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Organizing Google Drive

Google Drive is an incredible tool that allows you to store various types of files and documents in one place, from where you can access them from anywhere. However, if you save everything haphazardly in Drive, it can become an unmanageable mess, making it difficult to locate the files you need.

Think of Drive as your personal Filing Cabinet. Just as you wouldn't want to throw all your belongings into one drawer and then spend hours finding the one you need, you need to organize your files in Drive to make it easier to access them.

Sign into Google Drive and select My Drive in the Sidebar. My Drive is where you should store all of your documents. Ignore the Shared with me section for now.

Organize Your Files with Folders and Subfolders.

Create folders and subfolders with clear names that reflect their content, and group related files together based on common themes, projects, or purposes.
To create a New Folder, click + New at the upper left and select New Folder.

Google Drive - Create a New Folder

- Enter a short name that accurately describes the purpose of the folder.
To create subfolders within that original folder, double-click to open the folder, then click New > New Folder again. Repeat as needed to create the folder structure that works for your content.
- In this example, the Folder Structure follows this pattern: Course > Module > Components.

Google Drive Example Folder Structure

Google Drive Folder Hierarchy Example

Color Code your Folders

To make it easier to locate frequently-used folders, you can change the folder color to make it easier to identify at a glance.

Right-click on a folder in Google Drive (Control-Click, or two-finger click on your trackpad).
Choose Organize, then select a Folder color.

Google Drive — Assign Folder Color

Move Documents into Folders

When creating a new document or uploading a file into Drive, open the folder where you want this file to live and then choose New or drag in a file from your computer to upload. The newly created or added document will automatically appear inside the folder.

Chances are that you already have lots of items in your Drive that need to be moved into your folder organization, which is easy to do.

Step 1. Select the document or documents you want to move.

Select one item by clicking on it in the list, or hold the Command Key and click on several items to select multiple files.

Step 2. Select Organize from the Actions menu.

Click on the Stoplight Icon (three dots) — the More Actions menu — at the top of the list, or right-click on any selected filename to display the menu. (On the Mac, hold the Control key and click, or two-finger click on the trackpad.)
Choose Organize > Move. Navigate into the folder you want to move the selected document(s) into (click the > symbol at the right of a folder name to go inside of that folder). Once inside the desired location, click Move.

Google Drive — Move Documents

Once your files are moved into folders, it will be much easier to locate documents and keep things organized. In addition, Google Drive offers several other tools to help manage your files.

Use the Activity Sidebar

A tool that is often overlooked, the Activity Pane can help you quickly access recent files. Click the icon at the upper right to display a slide-out panel on the right, which shows Details about the selected file or folder, or recent Activity associated with that item. Select a folder, then click on Activity to see the recent actions relating to that folder.

Google Drive Activity Pane

Use the Star feature for quick access to key files and folders

If you have a few documents or folders you need to access very frequently, add them to your Starred list. To add the star, select the item, choose More Actions > Organize > Add to starred. The item will now display a star icon after the file or folder name, as shown by the Quick Info Sheets folder in the image above.

Now, instead of looking through your entire My Drive collection, click on Starred in the sidebar on the left to view only those items you had assigned in that way.

Use Sort and Search

At the top of the window, a Search field will allow you to quickly search by name, date, file type, and more. The icon at the right edge of this search field opens an Advanced Search dialog box, providing tools for more detailed searches.

You can also easily Sort items in Drive using the Type, People, or Modified menus that appear above the file list.

Google Drive Sort Options

Sharing Settings on Folders Apply to Files Contained Inside

Sharing is a key feature of Google Drive, and here is a tip you may find useful. If you have a series of documents that should have the same sharing settings, apply those settings to the folder they are located inside. The sharing settings will automatically apply to all of the folder contents, including any files you create or copy into that folder in the future!

What about Shared with me files?

When others create documents and share them with you, they appear under the Shared with me sidebar item. Don't try to organize these files — they belong to others. Often the best way to locate a file that has been shared with you is to search by name (if you remember the document name), or by entering the name of the person who shared it originally.

For more information, visit How to use Google Drive on the Google Support site.

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