How do you organize the files on your Mac organized? Here are cool mac tips and tricks to help you stay organized as you use your MacBook.
Does your desktop look like a dumping ground? Do you struggle to find files you need when you need them? You’re not alone.
For a lot of us, we don’t have the time or know-how to properly organize our computer files. But, this can lead to a lot of wasted time – or even lost documents!
To make sure you’re not spending hours searching through your files, we’ve put together some simple Mac tips and tricks for file sorting. They’re all easy to start using and won’t take hours to set up.
Take a look and start getting organized!
1. Stack Desktop Items
For easy access to files you use frequently, your desktop can be a great storage spot. But if you don’t organize it properly, it can look more like its been hit by hackers than a storage area.
The best way to organize your desktop is using Mojave Stacks. It’s one of our favorite MacBook tricks that you don’t need to install any extra programs for – it’s already included with the macOS Mojave software.
To use it, head to your Finder bar, click View and you should see Use Stacks. You can also access it through a shortcut by right-clicking on your desktop and finding Use Stacks. Select it and voila – your files will be automatically organised!
They’ll first be stacked into groups such as images, screenshots, and presentations, but you can change this. Create your own groups by selecting View and choosing Group Stacks By. You can organize them by tag, date, or any of the other categories so you can find what you’re looking for easily.
Learn more about how to use Stack to make the most of all the features.
2. Rename Many Files at Once
One of our cool Mac tricks that doesn’t need any additional software or apps is this renaming hack. Before this trick, renaming big groups of files could be hugely time-consuming and a lot of us probably wouldn’t do it. But that leads to lost files and messy organization.
By renaming groups with memorable names, you can access all of your photos, videos, or documents easily. You can even do a search for a group name to have all relevant files appear. Here’s how to do it:
- Make sure you’ve selected all the files you want to rename using shift-click
- From the Finder toolbar, select Action
- Select Rename ‘X’ items from the options
- The Rename Finder Items panel will pop up. Select Format
- You’ll then have to choose a Name Format from the options, such as Name and Date
- Enter a name for them all in the Custom Format box
- Add a number to begin naming your files in the Start Number At box
- Select rename to finish the process
Once you start group-naming files, you’ll never go back!
3. Easy Drag and Drop With Yoink
If you’re to make moving your files easier, you can’t skip Yoink. This app is a game-changer for drag and drop.
Installing as a feature that’s constantly accessible, it’s incredibly easy to use. Simply select a file on your Mac and start to move it. From here, a small box will pop up on your display – this is Yoink’s feature.
You can drop your file into the box. Then, navigate to a different screen and the box will still be accessible, allowing you to take the file out and drop it into a new place. Easy, right?
It can make everyday tasks simpler, from adding a photo attachment to an email to inserting a file into a document. It also groups files which will stack them so you can insert multiple photos and documents in one go.
The current drag and drop from Apple is pretty clunky and can be a pain to use, so we highly recommend Yoink.
4. Use Hazel for Automated Organization
One of the most popular file management apps for Mac has to be Hazel. It automates the organization of your files, making sure they’re stored and categorized correctly. For cool things you can do on a Mac to save time, look no further than Hazel.
To start using it, you can select files for the app to ‘watch’. Then, set up criteria and rules that alert Hazel that it should be sorting the file, as well as telling it how to sort.
Some of the things you can automatically do with Hazel include:
- Move files based on name, date, etc.
- Rename documents
- Clear out files from Trash after a certain time
- Remove support files from deleted items
- Automatically sort downloaded files as they reach your Mac
5. Keep a Dumping Ground
For our final organization tip, you don’t need any additional software with modern features. You just need a little time and some management skills.
If you don’t want to pay for Hazel or would rather keep control of your files yourself, allocate a ‘dumping ground’ folder. Here, pop in all your files that you need to organize as they come in, such as downloads or images from your phone.
By ‘dumping files’ in one place, you’ll know where to find them when you need to come back and do some organization. We recommend scheduling this every fortnight, week, or month, depending on how many files you have.
Keep your dumping ground folder on your desktop for easy access and make sure you use it. It can go a long way to helping you get on top of your file management.
Discover More Mac Tips and Tricks
Sorting out your file organization is just the start of optimizing your Mac use. There are so many shortcuts, apps, and Mac tips and tricks that will help you make the most out of your device.
Keep reading our blog for more insight.
