How to Organize Your Mac Computer

The Smart Folder feature is built into the Finder interface on a Mac.

The simplest and most efficient way to organize a computer is to group similar files into folders. The "Smart Folder" feature that comes with every Mac computer makes the process of grouping similar files into folders easier by doing it automatically for you after you specify the rules for the smart folder.

Instructions

1. Click the "Finder" icon in the computer's dock to open the Finder window.

2. Click the "File" tab and select the "New Smart Folder" option from the File menu.

3. Click the "+" icon to add a rule to the Smart Folder criteria.

4. Click the left drop-down menu and select either "Kind," "Last Opened Date," "Last Modified Date," "Created Date," "Name" or "Contents" from the drop-down menu.

5. Fill in the specific criteria you want the file to match in the spaces provided. For example, if you only want the folder to contain documents, select "Kind" from the first drop-down menu and "Documents" from the second drop-down menu.

6. Repeat Steps 3 through 5 until you have added enough rules to specify the exact type of files you want to save in the folder. Continuing the example, if you only want the folder to contain documents created in the last month, you would add a rule, select "Created Date" from the first drop-down menu and enter the specific date in the space provided.

7. Click the "Save" button. Type a name for the folder in the space provided and click the "Save" button that appears again to save the Smart Folder.

8. Repeat Steps 1 through 7 until you are satisfied with the computer's organization.

References

• Apple Info: Organizing Related Files With Smart Folders