More about Files

When you Save (or Save As) in a word processor, spreadsheet or any other program, you will create a file. The type of file you create, text document, photo, spreadsheet, etc will depend on the program you are using.

When you 'Save As', a window will open up allowing you to choose where on your computer you want to store your file. You can even create a new folder to store the file. Just click on the location for the new folder, right click and then select New Folder.

Also you can copy files into folders on your computer from the Internet, from email attachments, from digital cameras, and from any other device which you can connect to your computer.

Once you have stored files on your computer you can view the contents of folders in different ways. You can also manage files by renaming, copying, moving and deleting them. To do this, use Windows Explorer (see Organising Folders ). See below for a description of how to view and manage files and folders.

Viewing

Use "View" in the top menu to display the contents of your folders in different ways. Use "List" view for a simple list of names, "Icon" view for a pictorial representation of your files (particularly useful for photographs) or "Details" for full information about your files.

While in Detail view you can sort the display in different ways by clicking on the column headings. Eg to sort by date, click on the words "Date modified" and the rows will sort in date order. Click again and the sort order will be reversed. Click on "Name" and the rows will be sorted in alphabetic order.

Selecting files

Before doing anything with files, you need to select one or more of them. To select:

    • an individual file, click on it

    • a consecutive group of files, click the first file in the group, then press and hold the SHIFT key and click on the last file.

    • a group of non-consecutive files, press and hold the CTRL key, then click on each file you want to select.

    • all files in a folder, click on "Edit" then "Select All".

Renaming

Right click on a selected file, choose "Rename" and then type in the name which you want to give to the file. Press "Enter" to confirm. If you have selected multiple files, the computer will automatically add a number, eg "Spring flowers (1)", "Spring flowers (2)", etc.

Moving and copying

To move files to another folder, select one or more files as above then click on one of the selected files and drag them to the destination folder. To copy files, hold down the CTRL key while dragging the files to the destination folder. If you start to drag files and then change your mind, press the Esc key to cancel before releasing the mouse button.

Deleting

Right click on a file or group of files, choose "Delete", check that you are deleting the correct files, then confirm the deletion.