If you’re like me, you have a ton of stuff in your Google Drive. Organization is essential to being able to find a file when you need it 🗄️. Google Drive offers a lot of help. Let’s take a look 👀!
- First, decide on your system for naming files and folders 📁. Keep it short and simple. What makes sense for your business? Once you decide on your system, stay consistent! I have folders labeled with each client’s name. Within that folder, I may have subfolders by project, depending upon the work I do for each client.
- Folders can be color-coded 🗂️, have emojis 😺, and hashtags #️. This can help you easily find the folders/files that you need.
- Now that you have decided on your labeling system, click on the drop-down arrow ➡️ beside “My Drive.” This will show you all your existing folders. You can rename a folder by right-clicking on it. Add new folders by clicking the “➕ New” button at the top left.
- Move your files into the appropriate folders 📂. You can also move a file into multiple folders if you want. There are different ways to do this. Creating a copy by using the “Make a Copy” function (found by right-clicking on the file) is like creating a hard copy. If you delete one, you will still have the copies.
You can also move multiple copies by creating a shortcut using “CTRL + Z” which will allow you to put it into multiple files, but if you delete one, make sure it is the copy and not the original. If you delete the original, all copies will disappear. (The copy will have a curved arrow ⤴️ on its icon.) - If you want to add more information than what your label gives you, you can add a description. Click on your folder or file, then go over to the information button (ℹ️) on the far right. Click this and look at the details. At the bottom is the box for the description. This is searchable, so write anything here that will help you find the correct file.
Keeping your files organized will save you time and allow you to find what you need when you need it, and not a minute later!