How do you organize your files and folders?

TheMystic said:

Agree. There is a lot of junk that people will never use, yet they can't make up their mind to simply delete them. This includes me too and I'm trying to get rid of this mentality.

Storage may be much more affordable today, but the problem is managing them. I find myself moving around files quite often, doing backup of lots of files I'll probably never use. That's a big waste of time, energy and also storage.

Still trying to find the perfect way of managing files and getting rid of clutter.

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The way I manage data, my OneDrive space of one terabyte should easily last me the rest of my life. For my Microsoft 365 family plan, I pay $99/year. That includes a terabyte of data storage for me and another terabyte of data for my wife. And we both get all the Microsoft Office apps. I consider that a major bargain. I keep it on auto-pay and consider it a necessary expense.

TheMystic said:

Guys,

How you organize your files!

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This isn't file organization to you? It is to me, but I guess I have a different view of "organization"

Dru2 said:

My setup...

Local drives in main system:

• 1) 512GIG NVMe - OS and all its folders
• 2) 1TB NVMe - Photography drive
• 3) 2TB SSD - Games
• 4) 2TB - Music
• 5) 1TB - Small local backups

Local Network:

• All PC's seen on Network
• Some shared folders
• All PC use/accept Remote Desktop login

Cloud/Net Solutions:

• OneDrive - Files to be shared/accessed between 3 PC's and Android phone
• NAS - File/Music server, backups
• Carbonite - Cloud backup solution accessible through the net

Can access files/folders from my Android phone :)

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TheMystic said:

Are you doing all this because you don't want to use a 3rd party app to backup files for you?

I use Personal Backup and it does the job wonderfully well.

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It is not about using 3rd party app.
I like cmd, vbs, ahk.
Most of app use these cmd, vbs, reg scripts in background.
It has not an interface but I like it.

I have also tools that I made myself that have an interface for my personal use.

TheMystic said:

Agree. There is a lot of junk that people will never use, yet they can't make up their mind to simply delete them. This includes me too and I'm trying to get rid of this mentality.

Storage may be much more affordable today, but the problem is managing them. I find myself moving around files quite often, doing backup of lots of files I'll probably never use. That's a big waste of time, energy and also storage.

Still trying to find the perfect way of managing files and getting rid of clutter.

Click to expand...

For me the answer is Windows 365 built-in OneDrive, which gives me a real-time off-site cloud mirror of my data. My nightly Microsoft File History backup to an external 2TB SSD gives me a local backup, complete with a file history of all data changes and file deletions. That SSD is kept off-line. (I'm paranoid about the possibility of ransomware.) My data is securely kept in 3 separate places, one of which is importantly off-site, and one of which is importantly off-line.

I did list my file structure in my first post. It's a simple tree structure with only a few main roots. The structure is kept chronologically and added to chronologically. Data in each folder is searchable and sortable. The structure doesn't change. I ruthlessly cull images.

Dru2 said:

This isn't file organization to you? It is to me, but I guess I have a different view of "organization"

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May be I should have been even more elaborate about the requirements in the OP.

But anyways, if it works for you and you are completely fine with the way it is, that is all that is required.

TraderGary said:

For me the answer is Windows 365 built-in OneDrive, which gives me a real-time off-site cloud mirror of my data. My nightly Microsoft File History backup to an external 2TB SSD gives me a local backup, complete with a file history of all data changes and file deletions. That SSD is kept off-line. (I'm paranoid about the possibility of ransomware.) My data is securely kept in 3 separate places, one of which is importantly off-site, and one of which is importantly off-line.

I did list my file structure in my first post. It's a simple tree structure with only a few main roots. The structure is kept chronologically and added to chronologically. Data in each folder is searchable and sortable. The structure doesn't change. I ruthlessly cull images.

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I too take regular backups, but the problem is with file organization. I don't create a folder hierarchy based on chronology or alphabetical. On top of that, there are additional requirements with respect to remote access and sharing with other users.

The problem I face is when I make a change in the original file organization. The whole backup goes for a toss as I have to either manually replicate every single change in the backups, or allow the backup program to do its thing, and then manually look for and delete duplicates. This is very time consuming. Not just that, even the folder remote access and sharing permissions get reset and I have to to reconfigure everything from the start.

I'm still looking for the perfect directory structure that I don't want to be changing for years to come. I have made some changes now and it looks better than before. But this isn't the 1st time. I have had similar feelings earlier too, only to later think of another way that appears to be a better way of organizing files.

I too have a OneDrive Family subscription plan that allows 1 TB per user for 6 Family members, that's a total of 6 TB cloud storage. The files there too are not too well organised. I'm now trying to find one method that can be consistently applied across devices, across platforms, both local and online. Probably I'm closer to finding one now.

I'll make a post once it is complete. Hopefully it will be sufficiently standardized that will be useful for many people, in a variety of circumstances/ requirements.

TheMystic said:

I too take regular backups, but the problem is with file organization. I don't create a folder hierarchy based on chronology or alphabetical. On top of that, there are additional requirements with respect to remote access and sharing with other users.

The problem I face is when I make a change in the original file organization. The whole backup goes for a toss as I have to either manually replicate every single change in the backups, or allow the backup program to do its thing, and then manually look for and delete duplicates. This is very time consuming. Not just that, even the folder remote access and sharing permissions get reset and I have to to reconfigure everything from the start.

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That seems a bit tedious.

For me, I simply organize my data by type and drive. The drive's files and folders are organized by name. Keeps things simple and easy to maintain. And since most backup programs (Acronis) can restore to the original location there's consistency and familiarity there.

But you do you

Dru2 said:

That seems a bit tedious.

For me, I simply organize my data by type and drive. The drive's files and folders are organized by name. Keeps things simple and easy to maintain. And since most backup programs (Acronis) can restore to the original location there's consistency and familiarity there.

But you do you

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That's probably because remote access and sharing permissions for multiple users/ group of users are not a requirement for you. And I don't think you are configuring those, especially at a folder level. You may be giving yourself remote access to the root directory, so everything inside is automatically available.

In my case, there are essentially 3 users (or user groups) and I'm looking at finding the simplest of folder structure that is possible, where any change I do (and I hate doing it, but sometimes the idea is just too compelling to make the change) can be easily made to the backups too and possibly without affecting folder access and permissions.

TheMystic said:

That's probably because remote access and sharing permissions for multiple users/ group of users are not a requirement for you. And I don't think you are configuring those, especially at a folder level. You may be giving yourself remote access to the root directory, so everything inside is automatically available.

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I'm sorry, but I guess you didn't notice I also said I did remote access.

And if your users are running Windows, as I said, Windows already provides a simple file structure that's consistent across all Windows OS's. If you want to limit access to what files and folders people see, just create a shared folder or drive and set permissions. There are lots of less tedious options available than the one you're doing now.

But to each his own. Good luck.

Use detailed long filenames.
My app builds a directory list of every file on a drive or in a folder.
Then using a full word search to find / play / display or copy those files.
There is no fix for slow indexing.

Then along came Ghot...

I have one standalone desktop, no sharing, syncing, cloud... at all. While for most, my methods are probably not... enough.
But... I think anyone can "start" with something like this, and adapt it to their needs.





This is the heart, of what... I want to grab, when the house is on fire.
I think anything else, should be tacked on to a system like this.