7 tips for organizing your files

Discover File Explorer. Use the ribbon in File Explorer in Windows 8 and Windows RT to make it a lot easier to do a whole bunch of things, especially searching for files based on the date they were modified, the file type, and other properties.

Most of the commands you need to organize files are on the Home and View tabs of the ribbon. The ribbon is minimized by default, so the commands don't take up space when you're not using them. After you select an item in the file list, just tap or click a tab to display it. If you need to do a lot of organizing work, you can set the ribbon to stay open. Tap or click a tab, and then tap or click the Pin icon on the far right.

Use the Home tab for things like copying and moving files and creating new folders

Use the View tab to show or hide panes, sort files and folders, and change how they look in the file list

Sort by date or size. That way, you can quickly spot old files, or the largest files you don't need anymore to free up space more quickly.

Preview files. If you see a file you don't recognize, tap or click the View tab, tap or click Preview pane, and then select the file to take a peek at it. This is faster than opening the file in an app. After you see what's in the file, rename it so it's easier for you to recognize.

Move photos into folders by date range or event. Sometimes when you import photos from a camera, a new folder is created for each date. This can get messy fast. Instead, move photos into new folders by month, year, or event.

Get folders named by month to appear in order. Instead of naming a folder "Jan 2012," put the year first followed by the two-digit month. For example, "2012-01." Or put numbers in front of a date range, for example "1Jan-Mar Family Photos."

Create archive folders. To keep a bunch of earlier versions of a file during a project, and not confuse them with the latest version, create a folder named "Archive." When the project is over, you can quickly delete the set of draft documents to free up space.

Name files in the same way. To keep a set of files together without creating a subfolder for them, begin all of their file names in the same way. For example, you could have a folder called "Sports" with files called "Soccer Calendar," "Soccer Fields," and "Soccer Roster." Create your own way of naming files so that the information you care about is right there in the file name.