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Learning how to use files and folders is important because after time your computer will start to get a little unorganized and that's never fun!
In this tutorial I will be going over some simple steps that will help you manage your files and folders. First I will start with explaining where your computer generally stores your files and folders.
Your computer generally stores your files and folders in four locations. Those locations are Documents, Music, Pictures, and Videos. These locations can be found in "My Computer". To find them simply double-click the "My Computer" icon on your desktop or search your computer for "My Computer". Once you are in My Computer, you'll see these four locations listed on the left side of the window.
Documents is generally used to store things like Microsoft Word documents, Wordpad documents, text files, .pdf files etc. The other three areas are used to store your music, pictures, and video files.
In this example we are going to create a new folder for your Microsoft Word documents. Let's just say that these documents are your resumes you will be using to apply to future job openings.
First navigate to my documents by going to My Computer > Documents. Once you're in the documents window, place your cursor anywhere inside the window and right click once. A list will appear which will give you the option to select New > Folder. Select new folder as seen below.
Once you select New > Folder, a new folder will appear in the Documents window. To give the folder a name, just type in th name and then hit the Enter key on your keyboard. In this example we will use the name "My Resumes".
Once you've done this, it will be added to the list. If you double-click the new file you just created, you'll see that it is empty. There will be no files in it. This is how you create a new folder.
Creating a new folder can be done not only in the documents section but also in your music, pictures, and videos sections. You can also use this technique to create new folders in your external storage device such as an external hard drive or a flash drive.
Now that we've talked about how to create a new folder, it's time to add files to your new folder.There are a couple of ways that this can be done. First way is to drag and drop the file into your folder.
So let's say that you have one of your Word document or "resume" files stored on your desktop and you want to move it to your new file folder that you created under your documents section.
First you would open your documents window by going to my computer > Documents. Then you would hover your cursor over the top of your resume file that is on your desktop and hold the left click button of your mouse down. Continue holding the left click button while you drag the file over the top of your "My Resumes" folder located in your documents window. Now release your left click button and your file will now be inside of your new folder.
Another way this can be done is by cutting and pasting. Okay, now let's cut and paste your resume from your desktop to your new file instead of dragging and dropping it.
To cut and paste your resume file, hover your cursor over your resume file on your desktop and right click on it. From the menu that appears, select the option "Cut".
Now go to your "My Resumes" folder and double-click it. Right-click anywhere inside the window and select "Paste". Your file will now be removed from the desktop and will appear in your folder.
If you decide that you want to leave your file on your desktop but still want a copy of it inside your new folder, simply select "copy" instead of "cut" . Then when you paste it in your folder, you will have two copies. One on your desktop and one in your folder.
Note: The above technique can also be used to store a folder inside of another folder.
One more thing I would like to talk about is how to view and sort your files. View and sort settings can be changed to make interpreting, manageing, and viewing your files easier.
To change how you view your files (or how your files look), open up your folder and right-click anywhere inside. A menu will come up with the option "View". Slect view and you will see a list of options that say extra large, large, medium, or small icon. This will allow you to see your files more clearly.
To sort or list your files in a different order, right-click and select "sort by". A list will appear that will allow you to sort your files by name, date, type, or storage size.
To open a file you can hover your cursor over the file and double-click it. The file will be opened with the software program you used to created or to edit it with.
For example, if you were to double-click your resume file that was created with Microsoft Word, it would be opened with Microsoft Word when you double-click it. On the other hand if it is an image file such as a .jpg , it would be opened with a picture viewer.
Sometimes you may not want to only view a file, you might want to actually edit it. This will sometimes require a different program. For example, an image file will be opened with an image viewer or picture viewer. That is great for just viewing the picture but if you want to edit the picture you would need another program such as Microsoft paint or even Photoshop.
To use a different program, you would need to right-click on the file and select the option "open with" . There will then be a list of programs that you can choose from.
Thank you for reading my tutorial. I hope it has helped you learn how to use files and folders to your advantage. To learn more about files, folders, and file extensions, click the link below named "Computer Basics".
