Managing Files and Folders

Note that although this document was written for Windows 2000, things are pretty similar in most other Windows versions

About Windows Explorer and managing files

Windows Explorer displays the hierarchical structure of files, folders, and drives on your computer. Using Windows Explorer, you can copy, move, rename, and search for files and folders. For example, you can open a folder that contains a file you want to copy or move, and then drag it to another folder or even another drive. You can also create new folders.

There are other places in Windows 2000 where you can view and work with files and folders. My Computer is a commonly used alternative, but generally not as convenient for copying and moving files between folders and disks because of its focus on a single folder. Therefore, it is not discussed further in this document.

To open Windows Explorer

Click Start, point to Programs, and then click Windows Explorer (on some systems you might have to point to Accessories to find it there, or you might even find a shortcut to it on your desktop or somewhere else within the Start menu.)

To change the appearance of items in a folder

1. Open Windows Explorer.
2. Click the View menu, and then click Large Icons, Small Icons, List, Details, or Thumbnails.

Notes

• On the View menu, you can also point to Arrange Icons and, depending on the folder, sort items by categories such as date, name, size, and type. For example, in the figure shown below, the folder was sorted by date (most recently modified /created files on top, then most recently modified/created folders on top).
• If you want to change the way all folders look (not just the current one), use the Tools menu, choose Folder Options, then use the View tab. From there make your selections to modify the current folder and then click the "Like current folder" button.

To change the name of a file or folder

1. Open Windows Explorer.
2. Click the file or folder you want to rename.
3. On the File menu, click Rename.
4. Type the new name, and then press ENTER.

Notes

• Although a file name can contain up to 215 characters in Windows, including spaces, for files intended for use on the Web it is recommended that you keep file names short but descriptive, stick to lowercase letters, and avoid using spaces -- use dashes or underscores instead, such as "about_me.html" or "about-me.html". File names cannot contain the following characters: \ / : * ? " < > |
• You do not need to open the file or folder to rename it. You can also rename a file or folder by right-clicking it and then clicking Rename (as shown in the figure below).
  

Notes for the numbered items in the above figure:

1. In the left-hand window pane, first locate and select the disk drive you wish to work with (by clicking it). In the above figure, a Zip disk drive with letter "S:" was chosen.
2. Also in the left-hand pane, locate and choose a folder to work with (skip this step if you want to work with that disk's root (main) folder. Click a "+" sign next to a folder if you want to work with one of its subfolders and it will expand that folder to display its contents. In the above figure, the "+" next to the Zip disk was clicked to expand it, then the "+" sign next to the "academic webs" folder was clicked to expand it, then the "Fall2002html" folder was selected.
3. When a folder is chosen in the left-hand pane, its contents (files and subfolders) are displayed in the right-hand pane. From this list of files and folders, choose the file/folder you wish to work with (by clicking on it). In the above figure, the "index.html" file was selected. (See the section toward the bottom of this document entitled "To select multiple files and folders" for tips on selecting and working with multiple files/folders simultaneously. This can be a real time saver.)
4. One way to work with the file(s) and/or folder(s) is to right-click them. If you do so, you will see a context menu display, similar to the one shown above, which will present you with many options for actions that can be taken on the selected item(s). Instead of right-clicking, you can just use the File menu in the upper-left corner of Windows Explorer, which will display many of the same items on its menu.
5. Assuming you right-clicked the item(s) you wanted to work with and are staring at the context menu, you can then choose the action you wish to take, such as "copy", "cut", "delete", or "rename". In the case of "copy" or "cut", this is only the first step in what will require you to indicate a destination folder for the item(s) and then choose to "paste" the iem(s) there to complete the copy operation (if you originally chose "copy") or move operation (if you orginally chose "cut") .

To delete a file or folder

1. Open Windows Explorer.
2. Click the file or folder you want to delete.
3. On the File menu, click Delete (or just hit the Delete key on the keyboard).

Notes

• Deleted files from the hard disk remain in the Recycle Bin until you empty the Recycle bin. If you want to retrieve a file you have deleted, double-click Recycle Bin on the desktop, right-click the file you want to retrieve, and then click Restore. But note that only files deleted from the hard disk go to the Recycle bin -- files deleted from a removable disk such as a floppy disk, Zip disk, or CD-RW disk do not go to the recycle bin and therefore cannot be restored.
• You can also delete files or folders by right-clicking the file or folder and then clicking Delete (as shown in the above figure)
• If you press and hold down the SHIFT key while dragging a hard disk item to the Recycle Bin, then the item is deleted from your computer without being stored in the Recycle Bin!

To create a new folder

1. Open Windows Explorer.
2. Click the drive or folder in which you want to create a new folder.
3. On the File menu, point to New, and then click Folder.
4. Type a name for the new folder, and then press ENTER.

Notes

• You can also create a new folder by right-clicking a blank area in the right pane of Windows Explorer or on the desktop, pointing to New, and then clicking Folder.
• It is recommended that you create a new folder for each assignment and assignment part and that you keep the relevant files organized within these folders.

To copy or move a file or folder

1. Open Windows Explorer
2. Click the drive or folder you want to work with.
3. Click the file or folder you want to copy or move.
4. On the Edit menu, click Copy. Or, click Cut to move the item.
5. Open the folder or disk where you want to copy or move the item.
6. On the Edit menu, click Paste.

Notes

• To select consecutive files or folders to copy or move, click the first item, press and hold down SHIFT, and then click the last item.
• To select files or folders that are not consecutive, press and hold down CTRL, and then click each item.
• If you try to copy (or move) files into a folder that already has a file in it with that same name, Windows will prompt you to see whether or not you want to overwrite the existing one with the one being copied.
• If you try to copy (or move) a folder (and the files within it) into an area that already has a folder with that same name, Windows will prompt you to see if you want to overwrite the existing folders and files with the one(s) being copied. Note that either way, existing files in the existing destination folder that do not have the same names as those in the source folder being copied will remain there as part of the copied result! If this is not what you want, you are better off deleting the destination folder first, then copying/moving the desired folder into this empty desitination area to get the exact same set of files/folders in the destination as what you selected originally as the source of the copy/move.
  

To move files by dragging

1. Open Windows Explorer.
2. Find the file or folder you want to move.
3. Make sure the destination for the file or folder you want to move is visible.
4. Drag the file or folder to the destination.

Notes

• If you drag using the right mouse button, a menu appears with the commands Move Here, Copy Here, Create Shortcut(s) Here, and Cancel. Click the command you want.
• To copy the item instead of moving it, press and hold down CTRL while dragging.
• If you drag an item to another disk, it is copied, not moved. To move the item, press and hold down SHIFT while dragging.
  

To select multiple files and folders

1. Open Windows Explorer.
2. Click the drive or folder you want to work with.
3. Then do one of the following:
   • To select consecutive files or folders, click the first item, press and hold down SHIFT, and then click the last item.
   • To select files or folders that are not consecutive, press and hold down CTRL, and then click each item.
   • To select all the files and folders in the window, click the Edit menu, and then click Select All.
4. With these multiple files or folders selected, you can now move, copy, or delete all of the selected files together at once, using any one of the techniques described in this document that was acting on a single selected file .