Digital Simple » Files and Folders

Sort by Last Modified Date

Sherman — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 20:17:12 +0000

Have you ever discovered something so simple you immediately feel kinda dumb for not having thought of it before? That happened to me the other day.

I use a LOT of files in my work so my project folders get full fast. I also have a bad habit of giving files names that make sense at the time but are soon forgotten. As a result I do a lot of scrolling and searching for files i worked on even a few days ago. Then I “discovered” that I could sort files by Last Modified Date.

It changed my life.

Now when I open a folder on Mac or PC I immediately change the sort and … there’s my file. Better late than never.

Zip your files to pass them on

Sherman — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 15:52:27 +0000

If you need to send a bunch of files – whether over email or drop.io (for big big files) – it’s easiest to archive them: put a bunch of files into one “ZIP” file. Both windows and mac can help you do this.

On your PC, select all the files you want to “zip” (archive) and click on them with your right mouse button. Choose “Send To” then “Compressed (zipped) folder”. This will create an archive next to all the files you’ve selected. You can attach that to an email or drop it off at drop.io to send it on.

“Zipping” files on the mac is just as simple: Select the files you want and choose “Compress (n) Items” with your right mouse button (or from the File menu if you use a one-button mouse). This will create a file called “Archive.zip” that you can pass along.

“Zipping” is a simple way to pack a lot of files into an easy to move archive. Give it a shot!

Dropbox for multiple computers

Sherman — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 14:29:45 +0000

I use several computers and need to move files between them often. I could use a USB drive or email, but the simple solution for me is Dropbox.

Dropbox a program that runs on each of my computers – home, laptop and work. It creates a folder where I can store documents, images, other folders or whatever. Anything that’s put it a folder on one of my computers is copied by Dropbox to that same folder on all my other computers. Once it’s installed this happens automatically. Simple.

If i’m not at my one of my computers I can access my Dropbox files online or on my phone. And If I screw something up on a file they keep revisions for me so I can recover.

Dropbox works on my PC and My Mac. A “basic” account is free for 2 gigabytes of storage, so give Dropbox a try if you need a simple way to use multiple computers.

Undo before anything else

Sherman — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 01:29:17 +0000

I’ve talked about this A LOT; but “Undo” is my first stop on almost every “oops” moment on the computer.

If I accidentally delete, move or rename files I didn’t mean to
If text moves or changes in an email or document that I want back
if something seems different on my computer but I’m not sure what

“Undo” isn’t just for typing; it works on almost everything you do on your computer. Here’s how.

If something happens on your computer you didn’t expect or want – anything really – hit CTRL+Z (that’s the control key and the Z key at the same time).

The same holds true on the Mac only hit Command+Z (that’s the “Apple” key and the Z key at the same time).

I know it seems strange but I’ve screwed a lot of things up on my computer that were repaired by hitting “Undo” – from little typos to deleted backups. And if it didn’t help it really didn’t hurt anything either. Give “Undo” a shot before you panic.

BONUS TIP: If you hit “Undo” and realize it’s not what you wanted hit Shift+CTRL+Z (Windows) or Shift+Command+Z (Mac) to “Redo” your Undo and get back to where you were

Rename a file

Sherman — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 20:24:55 +0000

I rename more files than I care to count. And it takes a lot of time when I have to use a mouse. Thankfully there’s a really, really fast way to rename a file with the keyboard

Highlight the file you want to rename and hit the F2 key on your keyboard. You’ll notice that the file name is highlighted. You can start typing the new name of your file.

The process is exactly the same on the mac except instead of F2, hit the Return key. You’ll see the text of the file name highlighted and ready to be replaced.

A quick way to rename files may seem silly, but five seconds every time times 25 files a day times…. Well, you get the point.

BONUS TIP: If you need to name a file with the date (for reports or newsletters) try this: Name each file with the date in YEAR-MONTH-DAY format – “2009-08-18 Sales Report.xls” this month and “2008-09-18 Sales Report.xls” next month. That way when you have a whole directory full of sales reports you can sort them by their respective dates