Organise files in folders

Desired Outcome

How to organise loose files into folders
How to create and modify folders
How to rename items

Step-by-Step Guide

Everything on your Mac — documents, pictures, music, apps and more — is organised in folders. As you create documents, install apps and do other work, you can create new folders to keep yourself organised.

Create a folder

On your Mac, click the Finder icon in the Dock to open a Finder window, then navigate to where you want to create the folder.

Alternatively, click the desktop if you want to create the folder on the desktop.
Choose File > New Folder, or press Shift-Command-N.

If the New Folder command is dimmed, you can’t create a folder in the current location.
Enter a name for the folder, then press Return.

Move items into folders

On your Mac, click the Finder icon in the Dock to open a Finder window.
Do any of the following:
- Put an item in a folder: Drag it to the folder.
- Put several items in a folder: Select the items, then drag one of the items to the folder. All selected items move to the folder.
- Keep an item in its original location and put a copy in a folder: Press and hold the Option key, then drag the item to the folder.
- Keep an item in its original location and put an alias for it in a new folder: Press and hold the Option and Command keys, then drag the item to the folder to create the alias.
- Make a copy of an item within the same folder: Select the item, then choose File > Duplicate or press Command-D.
- Copy files to a different disk: Drag the files to the disk.
- Move files to a different disk: Press and hold the Command key, then drag the files to the disk.

Quickly group multiple items into a folder

You can quickly create a folder of items on the desktop or in a Finder window.

On your Mac, select all the items you want to group together.
Control-click one of the selected items, then choose New Folder with Selection.
Enter a name for the folder, then press Return.

Merge two folders with the same name

If you have two folders with identical names at two different locations, you can merge them into a single folder.

On your Mac, press and hold the Option key, then drag one folder to the location that contains a folder with the same name. In the dialogue that appears, click Merge.

The Merge option appears only if one of the folders contains items that are not in the other folder. If the folders contain different versions of identically named files, the only options are Stop or Replace.

To organise your files automatically, use Smart Folders. Smart Folders automatically gather files by type and subject matter, and are instantly updated as you change, add and remove files on your Mac.

Rename one item

On your Mac, select the item, then press Return. Or force click the item’s name.
Enter a new name.

You can use numbers and most symbols. You can’t include a colon (:) or start the name with a full stop (.). Some apps may not allow you to use a slash (/) in a filename.
Press Return.

Rename multiple items

On your Mac, select the items, then Control-click one of them.
In the shortcut menu, select Rename Items.
In the pop-up menu below Rename Finder Items, choose to replace text in the names, add text to the names, or change the name format.
- Replace text: Enter the text you want to remove in the Find field, then enter the text you want to add in the “Replace with” field.
- Add text: Enter the text you want to add in the field, then choose to add the text before or after the current name.
- Format: Choose a name format for the files, then choose to put the index, counter or date before or after the name. Enter a name in the Custom Format field, then enter the number you want to start with.
Click Rename.

These are some items you should not rename:

App folders and any items that came with your system, such as the Library folder.
(If you change the name of an item and experience problems, change the name back. If this doesn’t help, you may need to reinstall the software.)
Filename extensions — the full stop followed by a few letters or words that you see at the end of some filenames
(for example, .jpg). If you change an extension, you may no longer be able to open the file with the app that was used to create it.
Your home folder — the one with your name on it.