Organizing files documents and downloads for easy access

Some software gives you granular control over file sharing settings so you can:. Establish a system for which sharing settings to use on which files. Share those guidelines with your team and post them somewhere convenient for future reference. For folders with leadership-only access, remember to revoke access as soon as an employee leaves. Organize large amounts of files by years or quarters. It can be overwhelming to organize thousands of files, but there are tools to help you.

Move all of them from one year into their own folder. If you like, create subfolders for each month or quarter. If you need to rename a lot of files, there are apps for bulk file renaming , some of which are free. Then you can add details to file names, such as the year. If you have too many year folders, you can always create a folder titled Archive for folders from more than a few years ago.

Tell your organization how to organize digital files. Make it easy for your coworkers to name files correctly and save them in the right place. Make sure everyone knows to back up their files regularly. If people must save files on their computers, make sure they save a backup copy.

You might excel at organizing digital files, but others might not, so try not to stress about it. Schedule recurring file maintenance time to move misplaced files—and gently explain to people what the correct location is.

Or designate someone on your team as the go-to person for all file-organizing questions. Encourage people to ask first, rather than possibly saving something in the wrong place. Gain insights into page-by-page performance of your most critical documents, and control access with passcodes, email verification, approved viewer lists, and expiration dates.

Wrap up projects by easily and securely sending final files or large collections of files, complete with password protection, expiration dates, and delivery confirmation. Easily sign in to websites and apps with Dropbox Passwords. Automatic syncing to all your devices allows you to access your passwords anywhere. Get peace of mind knowing that when work is lost, deleted, or accidentally edited, file recovery and version history make restoring it a cinch. Take the pain out of managing legal documents by signing and storing them in one convenient, organized place.

Work efficiently with teammates and clients, stay in sync on projects, and keep company data safe—all in one place. Back up files in the cloud, share photos and videos, and more. Learn more about partner integrations.

Enhance remote collaboration with Zoom instant meetings and video recordings. Bring Slack conversations and Dropbox content together to keep teams in sync. Easily and securely send files to clients and vendors from within Adobe Photoshop. Easily access, edit, and share Office docs online in Dropbox. Collaborate on team projects in Trello with Dropbox content. Upload course files or assignments straight from Dropbox to Canvas. View more customer stories. Dropbox Business has enabled us to push that data quickly, efficiently, and reliably.

When setting up a good filing system, one of the most important decisions you make is the indexing method you will use to identify each file.

What should be on the file label to identify it in the file drawer or on the shelf? Smead Organomics calls these the Finders; file headings, names, account numbers, transaction dates, category names, etc. What you use as the primary document indexing for your files depends on the nature of the documents, your workflow processes, the amount of files in your system and the number of people who need to access the files.

It usually comes down to a choice of filing by a name alphabetic indexing or a number numeric indexing. Each has its own advantages, and Smead Organomics has filing solutions for both indexing methods that help users find files quickly and avoid costly misfiled records. Indexing alphabetically is easy to learn because anyone who can read knows the order of letters in the alphabet. Deleting an item in Recents will delete the actual file or folder. To add a folder to a not follow list open System Preferences , click on Spotlight icon, click on Privacy tab, click on the plus icon and add all folders or entire disk to the list.

In case you need to hide Recents folder completely from the Finder go to Finder Preferences and uncheck it from the Sidebar configuration. There are many instances when the Terminal needs to be opened with a specific folder.

To open the Terminal app from the Finder, first browse to the desired folder, then right click on the folder and choose New Terminal at Folder option in the pop-up menu. I wrote an article about organizing your files with colored tags on Mac which may be helpful for you.

Please send me an email at [email protected] if you have any questions. Hi, I am Al. I've been working with computers for more than 20 years and I am passionate about Apple products. You can reach me at [email protected]. Since the Skip to content If I have to name number one application that was driving me crazy when I switched to Mac the Finder would be the top contender. XtraFinder from Tran Ky Nam. Path Finder from Cocoatech. FinderPath from Bahoom. Marta from marta. How to quit Finder in Mac Unlike all other applications, the Finder app does not have Quit option in the menu.

How to open a new Finder window There are three ways to open a new Finder window: When Finder app is active use Command-N key combination. How to switch between Finder windows If there are multiple instances of Finder open then switch between them by right-clicking on Finder icon in the Dock and select the instance at the top of the context menu. Tabs in the Finder Tabs are another way to have multiple Finder windows.

Opening Finder tabs And finally, the three key combination Shift, Command and Backslash will bring tab overview window from which you can see all open tabs and add a new one if needed. Main Window In this window, you can navigate between folders and perform the majority of operations on files and folders. TreeView with Finder List View option Here are several tips when working with folders in the tree view.

To expand all folders hold Option Alt key and click on the little triangle in front of the top folder or use Option-Command-Right Arrow key combination. To collapse all folders in the Finder hold Option Alt key and click on the little triangle in front of the folder or use Option-Command-Left Arrow key combination. Navigating with Folders To open a folder in Mac either double click on the folder name or select the folder and the use Down Arrow button while holding Command button.

Creating new folders To create a folder in the Finder first browse to the parent folder and open it. Current Path Tips There are times when you need the full path of the file or the folder. Once the option is enabled the full path will always appear at the bottom.

How to copy the full path to the clipboard To copy the full path of the folder or the file in Finder right click on the item to bring up a context menu. Working With Files macOS supports most common keyboard shortcuts when working with files. How to select multiple files and folders To select a range of files first select the first file in the range, then hold Shift Key and click on the last file in the range.

How to move files cut and paste There is no Command-X shortcut in the Finder. How to delete files and folders To delete a file or a folder select it in the Finder and then use Command-Delete keyboard shortcut to send the file or the folder to Trash.