Files and Folders. A Basic Overview From Senior Computing Services.

Transcription

1 Files and Folders A Basic Overview From Senior Computing Services

2 Definitions Files All content on your computer is stored as files Files may include text, pictures, music, or any other digital content Folders Folders are containers for other folders and files Like folders in a file cabinet, they are used to create an organized hierarchy E.g., you might have a Financial folder which contains other folders labeled Real Estate, 401K, Banking, etc. Inside the 401K folder might be actual 401K statements (files) from your investment company.

3 The Windows File System Windows starts you off with several pre-defined folders into which you can put your own folders and files* My Documents (for text-based files) My Pictures My Videos My Music My Downloads There are many other folders and files defined by Windows but these are the ones you will use almost all of the time. *Windows Vista omits the word My in these folders but it returns again in Windows 7. Windows 7 also introduces the concept of Libraries (not covered here). Windows, of course, is a registered trademark of the Microsoft corporation.

4 How can I see all my files? Use the Microsoft File Explorer Go to Start and select Documents This is one way to bring up the Windows File Explorer. It will show you all folders, not just My Documents. See example on next slide

5 Textual representation of selected hierarchy shown here Hierarchy shown in this pane Content of selected Folder here Frequently Used folders My Documents, and folders within that, and folders within that and I selected my Facebook folder and now Explorer is showing me the contents of that, which is only a single Word file.

6 How can I organize my files? Start by creating the most general-level folders you might need. Example: How? Double-click on My Documents* to open. Then right-click anywhere in the resulting window and select New. Then select Folder. It s name, New Folder, will be highlighted. Just start typing to create your own name for this new folder. *In Windows Vista, My Documents is just called Documents

7 Organizing: The Next Step Now create the next level of specificity. Example: How to create these sub-folders? Double-click on Financial to open. Then right-click anywhere in the resulting window and select New. Then select Folder. It s name, New Folder, will be highlighted. Just start typing to create your own name for this new folder. E.g., Budgets.

8 Next Step Now create the next level and repeat as deeply as needed. Example: Sub-folders under Insurance

9 Where Does it All End? It ends with actual files. They reside at the lowest (most specific) level. See caveat below. But can t I have both files and folders at the same level? Yes, you can. So, it doesn t actually end there You got me. Yes, you re right, you can continue as far as you want to go. See next page for an example.

10 Example of Files and Folders at Same Level Files and folders together at the same level. Budget Archives might contain yet more folders, or just files, or both.

11 How to Put Files into Folders Method One: Save As Every program has a Save As option under its File menu Select Save As, and a File Explorer window will appear Using this window, drill down into the file hierarchy until you ve selected the folder you want the file to be stored in

12 How to Put Files into Folders Method Two: moving an already existing file from one place to another via Cut & Paste Open File Explorer and find the file you re interested in Right-click on the file Select Cut Find and open the new destination folder (or create it) Right-click on a blank area anywhere in this folder Select Paste

13 How to Put Files into Folders Method Three: Copying an existing file, putting the copy in a new folder and leaving the original in place Open File Explorer and find the file you re interested in Right-click on the file Select Copy Find and open the new destination folder (or create it) Right-click on a blank area anywhere in this folder Select Paste

14 How to Put Files into Folders Method Four: Drag & Drop Use this method when you can see both the source and the destination folders on the screen at the same time Left-click and hold on the source file Drag the file by moving the mouse to the destination folder. Release the mouse and drop the file into the destination folder If you want to Copy the file instead of moving it, hold the CTRL key down on the keyboard while you do the steps above

15 How to Put Files into Folders Keyboard Shortcuts Cut: CTRL-X Copy: CTRL-C Paste: CTRL-V Control Key (CTRL)

16 Now, go get organized! For assistance with this or any other computer-related task, please call or Don Thompson, Senior Computing Services: