Organise files with Windows Explorer

Besides managing and running programs on your computer you will also want to use Windows to manage files and documents. The part of Windows used to do this is called Windows Explorer. It allows you to perform tasks such as copying, moving and deleting files as well as renaming them.

To open a Windows Explorer window, click the Start button and then click Computer (or My Computer in XP).

Windows Explorer will also appear when you double-click on a folder located on the desktop and you can launch it by pressing the Windows key on the keyboard and the E key (for Explorer) together.

Once Windows Explorer is open you can single-click a file or folder to select it, or double-click to open it.

To move, copy, rename or delete a file or folder, right-click it and choose the appropriate option from the list. To move a file, right-click it and select the Cut option, then navigate to the destination folder, right-click an empty portion and select Paste. Follow the same process to copy a file, but select Copy instead of Cut.

Windows Explorer has a section called Folder Options. To access this open a Windows Explorer window, head to the Tools menu by pressing the Alt and T keys together and select Folder Options.

The General tab lets you specify basic settings, while the View tab contains more advanced tools, such as the ability to show hidden files. Don’t play around with the settings in the View tab unless you are sure you know what they do – if in doubt, leave this section as it is.

Windows 7 comes with a new feature called Libraries that makes it much easier to organise similar files that are located in various different folders. So, for example, the Music library can show all your music files even if they are scattered in several folders across the hard disk.

For a video guide to how Windows 7 Libraries work, visit our website.

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