macOS has a well-organized folder structure so that you can store your files in a certain order, but in my day-to-day work as a trainer I can see how more and more people choose save your files in the folder proposed by the system itself. Our colleagues from Xataka tell us that it is something generational.
For these people, who even forget the very concept of what a folder is, there are some macOS functions. Apple has been concerned that you are able to find what you want no matter how much chaos you have on your desktop.
Why organize when I can search
The first of those tools is Spotlight. The macOS search engine is able to show you a file just by typing its name, by accessing the magnifying glass icon on the top menu bar or by pressing CMD + space. The only downside is that you must know the name of the file, of course.
If you don’t know that name Siri has your back. You only need to pronounce commands like “show me the files i used yesterday“so that the wizard will show you a reduced list to better find what you are missing. You can also play with commands like”show me the pdf files“, or”show me the videos i saved last week“.
Apart from the search engines we can also name some folders in which your files will surely have been saved, since they are usually the directories that many applications use by default:
- Everything you download from the browser and any attached file that you decide to save usually appears in the folder downloads.
- Apple applications (such as Pages, Numbers, Keynote, TextEdit, or Preview) have your own directories in iCloud Drive. Some third-party apps like Pixelmator have folders there too.
- Some third-party applications such as Microsoft Office usually offer their own cloud (OneDrive) or the folder Documents.
- Your music files are saved in the folder Music, and your photos managed with the Photos application are stored in a Photo Library file that is in the folder Images.
- If you simply want to find a file that you have used recently, in Finder you have preconfigured access to the smart folder ‘Recent‘in which you will see the most recent files that you have touched regardless of the folder in which they are located. It is one of the most used functions of the Finder nowadays, although it must be borne in mind that it is not exactly a folder as such.
For Macs, having a cluttered desktop full of folders does not represent any performance or stability issues. Organizing or not our data in folders is already up to the user, and the advantages go beyond being productive and having a better mental order.
Personally, I will always recommend that you maintain an organization of folders, not only for organizational reasons but for security. I have witnessed too many data losses from people not realizing where they kept what, and simply taking into account the system directories already gives you a better mental picture of how you have your data stored.