Do you keep everything in “downloads” or have file trees 100 folders deep?
I used to have complete anarchy in my Downloads folder, but I’ve since reformed my ways and now my Downloads folder is clean and my Videos and Documents folders are complete anarchy instead.
I use this thing, I find it pretty useful
Organizing is one thing but it’s better to reduce your brainpower-spending regardless of what you do.
On Windows? Custom iconed folders and explorer bookmarks go a long way. Better than relying on Quick Access or whatever.
On desktop Linux? Tools like
fdandzoxide(z) save you as long as your directory names are consistent. Sticking tonames-like-thisreduces guesswork and you can skip around in seconds. (Saved me many a due date.)On Android, consult Indiana Jones. Your files are a treasure – they’re staying hidden
Android at least has this neat app named TagSpaces… but yeah I really hate how the entire filesystem is basically Windows’ “Documents” folder: Various apps just dump things wherever the heck they please!
Edit: Thanks for mentioning those really cool Linux tools!!
I just use Everything desktop search and let the files fall where they may.
I don’t keep anything relevant on my machine. It’s just a way to access data hosted somewhere more safe. Also files and folders are terrible ways to organize anything, even remotely like Google Drive or similar stuff. It’s Microsoft’s and Apple’s brainrot outliving the 90s. We should move forward.
If not in folders, how would you suggest we organize data on computers so that it’s easily findable without needing keyword searches all the time? Because I can guarantee that I’m not the only one who would remember the keyword for a specific song or government document right until the moment when I need it and then I will forget what any of the set keywords/tgs were or be so vague with the tags that it feels like searching for something specific on pinterest
These days, a shallow folder system. I have an electronica folder, and a Blanck Mass folder that definitely would go in there but that is full enough to stand on it’s own. Actual taxonomic organisation would take way too many clicks, but flat organisation can result in trouble finding things, and just looks like you’re a slob. (Although I’m guilty of having unsorted hoarder folders for things I only needed once, too)
There’s probably a rule of thumb for optimal fanout on each GUI folder, related to our visual processing. Hmm. I wonder if there’s a way to make the tree self-balancing as well.
I try but don’t always succeed. In my main laptop, I have all misc files in the downloads folder, photos in photos, documents(pdfs, writer, math) and videos/movies in videos.
on my main desktop it’s total anarchy
Yes.
100% of everything is on the desktop. No borders no boundaries to divide the working class programs against themselves
Before even looking, I could tell you were from .ml. Stand strong, comrade!
Depends on what it is. Currently, on my laptop, I have music organized by group followed by album if I have ripped a CD for backup in case my CD stops working. Got a lot of blanks, just in case, for free.
Downloads isn’t organized. Pictures are slightly organized, with images for background in a folder and a few other folders. Most everything in documents is in a folder inside the documents folder or a subfolder in the subfolders.
Desktop has folder has mostly the important things in it, like folder for appimages, emulators, other programs and related files that require their own folder, and a few miscellaneous files. Organization is something I have prioritized a lot more on my laptop to ensure I don’t end up having a situation like with my desktop where it’s a shitshow.
As for phone, I’m doing a lot better with organization because I set up a new phone I got maybe a month or less ago and have been doing good to organize. Just need to go into my SD card and fix some things up that haven’t been organized for a long time, since my 2nd smartphone, back from ~2015-16. Mostly just music. Got over 500 audio files stored on an SD card, so you can imagine how insane it is to try and organize, especially if you feel daunted by that task like me.
I use plex so it files have to complay with the minimum plex naming conventions:
https://support.plex.tv/articles/naming-and-organizing-your-tv-show-files/
It goes to the Desktop, when the Desktop is full I delete everything that looks unimportant 👍
thanks, I hate it
this is me, but i make another new folder and put everything in the new folder cause i don’t feel like looking to see if it could be important, i’ll do it later maybe
It’s a good way to do it.
Everything Everywhere All at Once
Your question made me curious, so I counted: the subdirectories in my home directory reach a maximum of 26 levels deep.
You gotta up those numbers!
My organising system has a dual nature: it is either highly structured or a mess.
Information, such as documents, notes, spreadsheets, and images, is carefully organised into well-defined directories, no more than four or five levels deep. The destination directory is chosen at the time of download.
Anything that I expect to use more than once, even if only a few times, is dumped into a directory called GMS (Games, Movies, Software), which resides on a separate disk partition.
Everything else ends up in the Downloads directory, which is truncated every three months.
Sidebar on GMS directory
GMS originally stood for Games, Music, Software. But I stopped managing my own music since switching to Spotify and now Apple Music. I rarely watched movies on my computer back in 00s; my cable TV fulfilled those needs then.
I used to manage the contents of GMS few times a year, but I have stopped doing that now since my usage of this folder has dropped by a lot since the early 2010s.
The decreased use might be explained by my increased use of package managers, Steam and GOG, and streaming services.
However, another factor could be that I now avoid situations where I would need to download anything via my browser, unless absolutely necessary. Perhaps due to lower tolerance towards such practices or reduced patience with age.
