GON Organizing Tech

Back to Organizing Technology Index Organizing Technology

Want to find your files easily?

Name them right

by Maria Gracia Join our newsletter to be notified when the newest Organizing Technology is available. When creating a document or spreadsheet, it’s important that you think about what you’re going to name it, especially if there’s a good chance you’ll be needing that file again. I try to avoid file names like file083.doc because who knows what that means? Unless, that is, I have some sort of file index on my computer that I can refer to. Windows has a very big limit when it comes to file names. I think they can actually be over 250 characters, but I certainly would not suggest that. More reasonably, I might name my holiday newsletters... xmas-newsletter-2018.doc xmas-newsletter-2017.doc xmas-newsletter-2016.doc In doing so, I know exactly what these files are...my Christmas newsletters for the years 2018, 2017 and 2016. Also, keep sorting in mind when naming your files. For instance, let’s say I am naming business files by name...Mark Wood, Christina Johnson and Evelyn Potter. I would probably name these files so they sort in the computer folder by last name. In other words... Johnson-Christine.xls Potter-Evelyn.xls Wood-Mark.xls File naming is serious business, especially if you’re dealing with tons of computer files. Naming them appropriately will help ensure you can find that file you’re looking for quickly and easily. Back to Organizing Technology Index