Have you always been using Windows and now you need to know how to create a folder on a MacBook? We feel you. That’s the doubt you’ll solve while reading this article.
The feeling you get when you look at someone’s chaotic desk and it makes you feel all nervous is exactly how others feel when looking at an unorganized desktop. The explosion of files and icons as your screen wakes up can be stressful and even more so when you can’t find the document you need.
Keeping your desktop tidy is essential for organization and efficiency. Not only this but having such a beautiful piece of Apple technology deserves an equally beautiful desktop. Creating proper folders is a crucial part of that organization.
That being said, we have some answers and tips on how to create folders on Mac.
Table of Contents
- How to create a folder on a MacBook
- Manage your created folders
- What is the difference between a folder and a smart folder?
- Another way to manage your desktop
- Wrap Up
How to create a folder on a MacBook
What can you do with folders on Mac?
Let’s say you have Excel documents for work. Then your kids have saved their Word documents and you have a few songs that you have just downloaded. More often than not, there will be a few PDFs and photos in there as well. By creating different folders you can store a range of files in one place.
The number of folders you create will depend on the uses of your Mac. If it is only for personal use, you might choose a folder for photos, music, and for videos, etc. Here are some example folders that you can create:
- Personal – photos and PDFs of scanned documents, passport, driving license, birth certificates;
- Finance – 2020 bills, receipts, work invoices;
- Finance – folders from 2017,2018, and 2019;
- Current work – the tasks you have to do this week;
- Work – folders with different projects.
How to create folders
It is a very simple process, as with most things on Mac:
- Click anywhere on your desktop so that in the top right-hand corner you can see “Finder”;
- Next to Finder, you have the tab “File”, click here;
- The second option is “Create New Folder”, select this;
- On your desktop, you will see a new blue folder called “Untitled Folder”.
You now know how to create folders, but you will have to learn how to name your folders so that you can easily identify what is in each one:
- Right-click on “Untitled Folder” and it will turn blue;
- Press “delete” and type the name you want to appear under the folder;
- Click anywhere on the desktop to save the change.
If you want to tag a folder you can choose a color to easily identify it. Click once on the file you wish to tag. Open File and scroll down to the bottom to choose a color.
Manage your created folders
It will depend on how you have your trackpad set up, but normally, one click will select a folder while a double click will open it. On the top, left-hand side of the folder, you will have four different ways you can choose to view the files in your folder.
For example, you can have them as icons or in a list. You can play around here and choose the one you like best.
To move items into a folder you can select a file and drop and drag it into the folder. The folder will shrink a fraction and you will hear the file drop in. The file will no longer appear on the desktop.
If you open a particular file, you can also select a file to drag and drop back onto the desktop. By pressing the command button, you can select multiple files. You can also select one or multiple folders to drag and drop into your new folder.
What is the difference between a folder and a smart folder?
Smart Folders will automatically update themselves by finding and moving files into themselves based on the criteria you set. Smart folders are great time savers. If you look back at the previous image, you will see that under “File”, there is the option to create a “New Smart Folder”.
To select the search criteria for your folder, click on the “+” button on the right-hand side of your new Smart folder.
You will find “kind” and “any”. When you click on “kind”, then “other”, you have a very extensive list of criteria you can select. “Any” will let you choose more general criteria such as app, movie, document, etc.
Another way to manage your desktop
One thing that I recently discovered is Stacks. When you choose to use stacks, your files will group themselves on the desktop while remaining visible.
All of your documents will appear on the stack which you can click once on to show all of your documents on your desktop. Your Mac will organize spreadsheets, images, screenshots, PDFs, and more into separate stacks.
If you download a lot of files, it will help you to keep your desktop clean until you organize them.
- Again, click anywhere on your desktop for the file to appear at the top;
- Select “View”;
- Choose “Use Stacks”.
You can organize your stacks as you prefer, by kind of file, date, or tag.
Wrap Up
Learning how to create a folder on Mac, Smart folders, and stacks is not only time-saving, but it will also reduce the amount of stress you feel when your screen comes to life.
When someone calls you asking to send a file urgently, it can be quite tense scanning your desktop, especially when you can’t remember the name of the file.
Managing folders and smart folders is the same, and the drag and drop feature makes it quick and easy. And, if you add the use of stacks, files and folders will all be neatly organized on the right-hand side of your desktop.
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