In this topic

Using libraries to access your files and folders

Understanding the parts of a window

Viewing and arranging files and folders

Finding files

Copying and moving files and folders

Creating and deleting files

Opening an existing file

Working with files and folders

A file is an item that contains information—for example, text or images or music. When opened, a file can
look very much like a text document or a picture that you might find on someone's desk or in a filing
cabinet. On your computer, files are represented with icons; this makes it easy to recognize a type of file
by looking at its icon. Here are some common file icons:

Icons for a few types of files

A folder is a container you can use to store files in. If you had thousands of paper files on your desk, it
would be nearly impossible to find any particular file when you needed it. That's why people often store
paper files in folders inside a filing cabinet. On your computer, folders work the same way. Here are some
typical folder icons:
 An empty folder (left); a folder containing files (right)

Folders can also store other folders. A folder within a folder is usually called a subfolder. You can create
any number of subfolders, and each can hold any number of files and additional subfolders.

Using libraries to access your files and folders

When it comes to getting organized, you don't need to start from scratch. You can use libraries, a feature
new to this version of Windows, to access your files and folders, and arrange them in different ways.
Here's a list of the four default libraries and what they're typically used for:

Documents library. Use this library to organize and arrange word-processing documents,
spreadsheets, presentations, and other text-related files. For more information,
see Managing your documents.

By default, files that you move, copy, or save to the Documents library are stored in the
My Documents folder.

Pictures library. Use this library to organize and arrange your digital pictures, whether
you get them from your camera, scanner, or in e-mail from other people. For more
information, see Managing your pictures.

By default, files that you move, copy, or save to the Pictures library are stored in the My
Pictures folder.

Music library. Use this library to organize and arrange your digital music, such as songs
that you rip from an audio CD or that you download from the Internet. For more
information, see Managing your music.

By default, files that you move, copy, or save to the Music library are stored in the My
Music folder.

Videos library. Use this library to organize and arrange your videos, such as clips from
your digital camera or camcorder, or video files that you download from the Internet. For
more information, see Managing your videos.

By default, files that you move, copy, or save to the Videos library are stored in the My
Videos folder.
To open the Documents, Pictures, or Music libraries, click the Start button , and then
click Documents, Pictures, or Music.

You can open common libraries from the Start menu

For more information about libraries, see Working with libraries.

Understanding the parts of a window

When you open a folder or library, you see it in a window. The various parts of this window are designed
to help you navigate around Windows or work with files, folders, and libraries more easily. Here's a typical
window and each of its parts:
Window What it's useful for
part

Navigation Use the navigation pane to access libraries, folders, saved searches, and even
pane entire hard disks. Use the Favorites section to open your most commonly used
folders and searches; use the Libraries section to access your libraries. You can
also expand Computer to browse folders and subfolders. For more information,
see Working with the navigation pane.

Back and Use the Back button and the Forward button to navigate to other
Forward folders or libraries you've already opened without closing the current window.
buttons These buttons work together with the address bar; after you use the address bar
to change folders, for example, you can use the Back button to return to the
previous folder.

Toolbar Use the toolbar to perform common tasks, such as changing the appearance of
your files and folders, burning files to a CD, or starting a digital picture slide
show. The toolbar's buttons change to show only the tasks that are relevant.
For example, if you click a picture file, the toolbar shows different buttons
Window What it's useful for
part

than it would if you clicked a music file.

Address bar Use the address bar to navigate to a different folder or library or to go back to
a previous one. For more information, see Navigate using the address bar.

Library pane The library pane appears only when you are in a library (such as the
Documents library). Use the library pane to customize the library or to arrange
the files by different properties. For more information, seeWorking with
libraries.

Column Use the column headings to change how the files in the file list are organized.
headings For example, you can click the left side of a column heading to change the
order the files and folders are displayed in, or you can click the right side to
filter the files in different ways. (Note that column headings are available only
in Details view. To learn how to switch to Details view, see 'Viewing and
arranging files and folders' later in this topic.)

File list This is where the contents of the current folder or library are displayed. If you
type in the search box to find a file, only the files that match your current view
(including files in subfolders) will appear.

Search box Type a word or phrase in the search box to look for an item in the current
folder or library. The search begins as soon as you begin typing—so if you
type "B," for example, all the files with names starting with the letter B will
appear in the file list. For more information, see Find a file or folder.

Details pane Use the details pane to see the most common properties associated with the
selected file. File properties are information about a file, such as the author, the
date you last changed the file, and any descriptive tags you might have added
to the file. For more information, see Change the properties for a file.

Preview Use the preview pane to see the contents of most files. If you select an e-mail
pane message, text file, or picture, for example, you can see its contents without
opening it in a program. If you don't see the preview pane, click the Preview
pane button in the toolbar to turn it on.

Viewing and arranging files and folders

When you open a folder or library, you can change how the files look in the window. For example, you
might prefer larger (or smaller) icons or a view that lets you see different kinds of information about each
file. To make these kinds of changes, use the Viewsbutton in the toolbar.
Each time you click the left side of the Views button, it changes the way your files and folders are
displayed by cycling through five different views: Large Icons, List, a view called Details that shows several
columns of information about the file, a smaller icon view called Tiles, and a view called Content that
shows some of the content from within the file.

If you click the arrow on the right side of the Views button, you have more choices. Move the slider up or
down to fine-tune the size of the file and folder icons. You can see the icons change size as you move the
slider.

The Views options

In libraries, you can go a step further by arranging your files in different ways. For example, say you want
to arrange the files in your Music library by genre (such as Jazz and Classical):

1. Click the Start button , and then click Music.

2. In the library pane (above the file list), click the menu next to Arrange by, and then
click Genre.

Finding files
Depending on how many files you have and how they are organized, finding a file might mean browsing
through hundreds of files and subfolders—not an easy task. To save time and effort, use the search box to
find your file.

The search box

The search box is located at the top of every window. To find a file, open the folder or library that makes
the most sense as a starting point for your search, click the search box, and start typing. The search box
filters the current view based on the text that you type. Files are displayed as search results if your search
term matches the file's name, tags or other properties, or even the text inside a text document.

If you're searching for a file based on a property (such as the file's type), you can narrow the search before
you start typing by clicking the search box, and then clicking one of the properties just below the search
box. This adds a search filter (such as "type") to your search text, which will give you more accurate results.

If you aren't seeing the file you're looking for, you can change the entire scope of a search by clicking one
of the options at the bottom of the search results. For example, if you search for a file in the Documents
library but you can't find it, you can click Librariesto expand the search to the rest of your libraries. For
more information, see Find a file or folder.

Copying and moving files and folders

Occasionally, you might want to change where files are stored on your computer. You might want to
move files to a different folder, for example, or copy them to removable media (such as CDs or memory
cards) to share with another person.

Most people copy and move files using a method called drag and drop. Start by opening the folder that
contains the file or folder you want to move. Then, open the folder where you want to move it to in a
different window. Position the windows side by side on the desktop so that you can see the contents of
both.

Next, drag the file or folder from the first folder to the second folder. That's all there is to it.

To copy or move a file, drag it from

one window to another

When using the drag-and-drop method, you might notice that sometimes the file or folder is copied, and
at other times it's moved. If you're dragging an item between two folders that are stored on the same
hard disk, then the item is moved so that two copies of the same file or folder aren't created in the same
location. If you drag the item to a folder that's in a different location (such as a network location) or to
removable media like a CD, then the item is copied.
Tips
The easiest way to arrange two windows on the desktop is to use Snap. For
more information, see Arrange windows side by side on the desktop using
Snap.

If you copy or move a file or folder to a library, it will be stored in the

library's default save location. To learn how to customize a library's default save
location, see Customize a library.

Another way to copy or move a file is to drag it from the file list to a folder or
library in the navigation pane so you don't need to open two separate
windows.

Creating and deleting files

The most common way to create new files is by using a program. For example, you can create a text
document in a word-processing program or a movie file in a video-editing program.

Some programs create a file as soon as you open them. When you open WordPad, for example, it starts
with a blank page. This represents an empty (and unsaved) file. Start typing, and when you are ready to
save your work, click the Save button . In the dialog box that appears, type a file name that will help
you find the file again in the future, and then click Save.

By default, most programs save files in common folders like My Documents and My Pictures, which makes
it easy to find the files again next time.

When you no longer need a file, you can remove it from your computer to save space and to keep your
computer from getting cluttered with unwanted files. To delete a file, open the folder or library that
contains the file, and then select the file. Press Delete on your keyboard and then, in the Delete
File dialog box, click Yes.

When you delete a file, it's temporarily stored in the Recycle Bin. Think of the Recycle Bin as a safety net
that allows you to recover files or folders that you might have accidentally deleted. Occasionally, you
should empty the Recycle Bin to reclaim all of the hard disk space being used by your unwanted files. To
learn how, see Permanently delete files from the Recycle Bin.

Opening an existing file

To open a file, double-click it. The file will usually open in the program that you used to create or change
it. For example, a text file will open in your word-processing program.

That's not always the case, though. Double-clicking a picture file, for example, will usually open a picture
viewer. To change the picture, you need to use a different program. Right-click the file, click Open with,
and then click the name of the program that you want to use.