How to Organize Digital Files Step-By-Step: A Complete Guide

Imagine walking into your workspace, and seeing your mail, calendar, bills, books, board games, financial documents, and newspapers spread casually over every surface.
Now: Can you find your AirPods in all this mess?
Suppose you need them for a morning jog. You could easily spend the entire morning tearing up that room in search of those little white earbuds. 

This is exactly the same situation many people face on a daily basis when sorting through digital files. The difference is that, contained in the two dimensions of your screen-world, digital disorganization simply isn’t as visible as your average messy room in real life.
And yet, finding exactly what you need amongst your digital clutter can be just as time-consuming as finding AirPods in a dirty pile of laundry - unless you have a digital system to help you get (and stay) organized.

This influx of digital files on any of your devices, be it a computer, mobile phone, or even TV, can be totally overwhelming. Yet the time it takes to organize these files up front will ultimately save you hours of searching through piles of digital junk down the road.

In this guide, learn how to save yourself from hours of scrolling through personal media with this simple, step-by-step process. Whether you’re organizing files as part of a larger quest to downsize and simplify your life, or you’ve just run out of local storage and need a quick clean-up, this guide is for you!
You’ll learn the most efficient way to organize your digital files by implementing a file-management system. Let’s get to it!

Systems for Organizing Digital Files

Before you begin to sort, delete or combine files, it’s essential to familiarize yourself with some of the most common systems for organizing your digital files. 

While there are many methods available to organize digital files, we'll focus on one approach in this article – the folder structure system on your local device. This system is practical and user-friendly, making it an ideal choice for pretty much everyone using digital files to store documents for work and daily life.

There are some other systems that you should consider in addition to the local folder management system: 

• Cloud Storage Solutions: Other possible ways of organizing your files involve using cloud solutions such as Google Drive and Dropbox to store your files. These solutions are ideal for people who want easy access to their documents from anywhere, adding that aura of accessibility to valuable storage space.

• Automatic File Organization Software: As the name suggests, automatic file organization entails using software apps to organize files and folders automatically. Most people who use software to sort their documents use it for emails, business and personal finance documents such as statements, receipts, and client invoices. 

These options are helpful to support your local file storage system. It’s best to set up your initial organization locally or on hard drives because you have more control over the content and don’t risk losing access to your files if you don’t pay a subscription fee. Local storage is generally lower in cost and much more straightforward than these other options.

Within the folder system organization method, there are several options for organizing the hierarchy of your system: 

Chronological Order 

As the name suggests, this type of organization system entails sorting out files or documents based on the date they were created, modified, or downloaded.

• Good For: People who need to quickly access their files in order of creation. This could be anything from created photos and videos to project files with deadlines. 

Project System

Speaking about projects, another popular type of file organization involves sorting them under the project they are associated with. 

• Good For: This system is best suited for project managers, graphic design agencies, construction companies, marketing agencies, and software development teams, just to mention a few.

Tag or Category

Tags are flexible organization tools that use descriptive labels and keywords that are typically attached to files to make them easier to search and find. They work like digital sticky notes that you can sort of ‘stick’ to your files. 

• Best For: People who need to locate a file quickly by simply searching it using keywords. People with research materials, articles, and other collaborative documents use this type of system to organize their files and find them quickly. 

File Type

As the name suggests, this type of system is best suited for individuals who have documents, music, photos, and videos and need to locate these files based on the type of content easily. 

Unlike the other methods, which utilize keywords and names, files under this system are sorted according to their format or type. It emphasizes sorting files based on their characteristics. It also makes it easy to share files. 

• Good For: People with diverse content and media collections like documents, videos, images, and audio files use this system. You can also use it to organize your home entertainment videos like movies and TV shows. 

This Is Why Your Digital Files Get Lost (Even After You Organize Them) 

It’s not news for digital files stored on devices to go missing, corrupted, or just downright difficult to find. And sometimes, your files will get lost even after you’ve organized them. 

Why? 

Here are some of the most common reasons why your digital files get lost even after you organize them:

• Inefficient file management: Although you might have carefully organized your files, you might lose your files because of inefficient file management practices. There’s a proper and efficient way to store your files (as shown below) that will minimize your odds of losing files to inefficiencies in file management. 

• Accidental deletion or overwriting: Accidents happen all the time. You can accidentally delete a file because of human error. Simply hitting the delete button is one of the leading causes of missing files. You can also unknowingly overwrite some of your files with new versions, erasing the previously known files with valuable data in the process. 

• Just too many files: Even with some level of organization, having too many files without having a hierarchical system can lead to the loss of files. This issue can leave your digital workspace in a mess and make it incredibly challenging to locate and manage important documents. In simpler terms, having too many files can make it challenging to find documents when needed. It also increases the risk of misplacement and loss of digital files. 

• Software or data corruption: When your digital files are compromised because of a breach in data, malware, or even hardware failure, it can make it harder to find your files, even if you’ve organized them well. Fortunately, using the best antivirus software prevents your files from being lost due to data corruption caused by malware or viruses.

How to Organize Digital Files: A Step-By-Step Guide

You use your phone, computer, tablet, and TV for so many different purposes. In the process, digital detritus and clutter can pile up, making your workflow a living hell and slowing down your devices in the process. 

Organizing your files can reduce stress and save time. Here’s a step-by-step guide on the entire process of organizing files.

1. Evaluate your needs and choose a system. 

   Before you start, take a step back and think about your organizational needs. Not everyone will have the same objectives when organizing their digital needs. Assess the file types you have, how much storage space they take up, and how you plan to organize them for easy-access.

2. Review all files and related documents.

   It would be in your best interest to act according to the universal rule of thumb governing file organization: decide which files you need the most and how frequently you need them. Take a moment to evaluate all your files. Identify what's essential and what can be archived or deleted.

3. Choose an appropriate storage location.

   It’s easier to choose a central location to store all your digital files rather than many decentralized hubs. The choice of your storage location will be based on your personal file needs. Most people choose to store their files on their computers, but you could also go for cloud storage or even an external hard disk. 

4. Create a main folder.

   Create a main folder that will host all of your digital files. It's as easy as right-clicking your mouse on your preferred storage location and hitting the ‘create new folder’ button. This new creation should serve as the main host for your file organization system. If you’re planning on creating multiple subfolders, this will also serve as the foundation for a hierarchical system. 

5. Implement a folder hierarchy. 

   After you’ve created that main folder, proceed to create subfolders that will serve as a logical hierarchy for more folders. For example, under this main folder, you might have one folder (a subfolder) labeled Work, Movies, or even Travel Photos, etc. However, you might not need to have a folder hierarchy if your storage needs are simple. For instance, if you’re simply looking to create a folder to house one or two documents, you might not need a hierarchical system. 

6. Create a consistent naming convention.

   Don’t skip this important step! Committing to a naming convention for your file storage ensures clear, concise and consistent labeling practice for all new files you create. This makes it easier to locate documents in large folders and identify anything out of place. For instance, you can have a file called Vacation Photos with subfolders named Italy Vacation Photos 2023 and Bora Bora Vacation Photos 2023.

7. Backup your files.

   After you’ve created your files and updated them with the relevant documents, it's important to back them up. Backing your files ensures continuity and accessibility even in the event of file corruption, hardware failure, and accidental deletion. 

Best Practices for Organizing Digital Files

Any file system is only as effective as how you actually use it on a daily basis. To maintain best practices for organizing your digital files, it’s important to think of file management as a productivity skill, and not just a one-time project. Those hours lost looking for files? That’s lost productivity. These practical tips will help you stay on top of your file management game and boost productivity without working harder:

• Declutter Regularly: If you’ve been using your device for over a year, you’ve probably accumulated some clutter. Clutter can be in the form of paper clutter, downloads, cookies, and other related data. To be organized and stay organized, you should consider decluttering frequently. 

Is that a duplicate file? Have I used it recently? Is this updated material? Is the file corrupted? These are some of the questions you should ask yourself weekly when reviewing your file system to keep a clean and organized device. 

• Name Media Files Using “Raw,” “In Progress,” and “Final”: This tip is for people working with software and digital media files such as videos and audio. Naming folders like this will make tracking your progress and locating your files easier. 

• Use Descriptive File Names: Folder names should be as descriptive as possible to make them easily searchable. It also reduces the risk of having your files scattered. 

• Backup Your Files Regularly: Google Drive, Dropbox, and iCloud are popular solutions people use when backing up their files. As mentioned before, failure to back up your files might come back to bite you because you risk the chance of permanent file loss in the event of data corruption or hardware failure. 

• Use A Clear Folder Structure: File management is all about having clear structures that complement your digital filing system. Set up a clear folder structure that outlines a file’s name and describes its contents.