Using Windows Explorer to Manage Your Data
Do you use a file cabinet at home or do you just have a huge pile of papers in the corner? Hopefully, you have a cabinet filled with folders that are labeled in a logical manner so you can find any document quickly. PC users need to take the same attitude toward the data on their PC! Each PC user should know how to view their files, how to create folders, and how to move files from one folder to another.
- Viewing Your Files and Folders
- Using Windows Explorer
- Different Ways of Viewing Files
- Creating Folders; Copying and Moving Files and Folders
Viewing Your Files and Folders
Before we discuss using Windows Explorer to view your folders and files, let's look at the contents of My Documents in a simple way. On your desktop, double-click My Documents, or double-click My Computer and then, from the left sidebar, click My Documents. The folders are usually listed first - with a little picture of a folder beside each one. If you do not see any folders in the Name column, click on the column name to sort.
The files are listed below the folders, and there is a small image in front of each file which corresponds to the file type (extension). For example, a blue "W" stands for Microsoft Word, and the file extension for a Word document is .doc or .docs.
From this window you can sort your files and folders by clicking on the column heading. For instance, to see the folders and files you have used most recently, click on the column titled Date Modified.
Do you see the file extensions after the filenames? If not, then the ability to see file extensions on your PC is turned off, and you need to turn it on! In My Computer or Windows Explorer, click Tools, click Folder Options, and click the View tab. Uncheck the box in front of “Hide extensions for known file types, and click OK.
Using Windows Explorer
Viewing your data using Windows Explorer is best because you get an extra column on the left that shows just folders - no files. To open Windows Explorer, right-click Start and click Explore. Or, you can press the Windows Key and the letter E on your keyboard simultaneously. Look at the picture below.
You will see two columns: the left column shows only your folders, and the right column shows folders and/or files. How does Windows decide what to display in the right column? It displays the contents of the folder you click on in the left column, or the folder you double-click on in the right column.
When you open Windows Explorer, My Documents should be near the top. To the left of the My Documents folder will be a + or - sign. A + sign says that the folder contains folders, but they are hidden. A - sign says that all of the folders are displayed. You can show/hide the folders inside of another folder by toggling the + and - signs. Notice that the folder named Rock inside of My Music has a + sign in front of it. If we click on the + sign, we would see the folders inside of Rock. Try it on your own PC.
Different Ways of Viewing Files
As stated above, when you click on a folder in the left column or double-click a folder in the right column, its contents are displayed in the right column. You can view these contents in different ways. Find the View Menu icon near the top of the Window to the right. When you hover over it with your cursor, the word "Views" appears. When you click this icon you see a small menu. The 3 important choices on this menu are: List, Details, and Thumbnails.
If you click on List, only filenames are shown in the right column. If you click on Details, multiple columns of information are shown for each file, such as Size, Type, and Date Modified. Lastly, by clicking Thumbnails on the View Menu, a very small image of any photograph or clip art is displayed. A small representation of an image is called a thumbnail.
When in Details view, you can customize what columns of information are shown by right-clicking on any column heading and adding or removing a checkmark by a column name. Display only the columns you need so that you have enough room to display most of the column content in the window.
Also, when in Details view, you can sort the folders and files in the right column of Windows Explorer by clicking on a column heading. For instance, if you are looking for your most recent files, click on the Date Modified column until the newest files are listed first. Or click on Name to see your files in alphabetical order.
Creating Folders; Copying and Moving Files and Folders
These are some of the ways that you can organize your data using Windows Explorer:
- Create a new folder: In the right column of Windows Explorer, right-click in the white space, making sure nothing is highlighted. Move the cursor over the word New, click on Folder, and type the folder name. If you miss the chance to type the name, your folder will be given the name New Folder.
- Rename a folder or file: Right-click on the object and click rename. Or click the object once, pause, click again, and type the new name. When renaming files, make sure you keep the period and file extension intact!
- Copy a folder or file: Right-click on the object and click Copy. Then, in the white space of the right column - making sure nothing is highlighted - right-click, and click Paste. The copied folder or file will be placed at the bottom of the list.
- Move a file to another folder:
- Method 1: right-click on the file and click Cut. Find the receiving or target folder in the left column. Right-click on the folder and click Paste. (Or, to play it safe, Copy and Paste, and then go back and delete the file from the original location once you've verified that it resides in the new location.)
- Method 2 - "Drag and Drop": Click the appropriate folder in the left column so that your file is displayed in the right column. Then locate, but don't click on, the target folder in the left column. (Click + in front of a folder to display the folders inside it.) Click and drag the file in the right column over to the target folder in the left column and, when the target folder becomes highlighted, release the mouse button. The file will drop into the folder. Make sure the correct folder is highlighted before releasing the mouse button or your file may drop into the wrong folder. This takes a little practice, but it is a nifty function.
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