How to Organize Your Downloads Folder in 3 Easy Steps

Downloads Folder

By default, everything you grab from the web gets thrown into your Downloads folder. This means that it can quickly become a jumbled mess.

If your Downloads folder is out of control, here are three tips that can help you improve management and keep it straight. Don’t forget that you can also set a specific download folder by file type.

1. Change the Default Download Location

If you’d like to save downloaded files somewhere else, like your desktop or an external drive, it’s easy to make that change in any browser.

To do it in Chrome, go to Menu > Settings. Scroll to the bottom and choose Advanced. Under the Downloads header, click the Change button next to the Location field to pick a default spot. If you check to Ask where to save each file, Chrome lets you pick where each file goes.

In Firefox, visit Menu > Options. On the General tab, scroll down to the Files and Applications header. Next to Save files to, select a new folder with the Browse button. You can also check. Always ask you where to save files from deciding each time.

Deciding where to save files each time lets you separate them by type, thus keeping your Downloads folder cleaner.

2. Save Downloads to Cloud Storage

Rather than storing downloaded files on your PC, you might consider saving them to the cloud by default. To ensure that you have a backup copy of a file as soon as you download it, you may save it in a cloud storage service like Dropbox or Google Drive on your PC.

This is useful for making a copy of application installers in case they are accidentally deleted. Also, it makes it easier to maintain the installers for your favourite applications on hand, which may be helpful if you’re setting up a whole new machine. However, keep in mind that downloading huge files on a regular basis may soon fill up your hard drive.

3. Sort Downloads by Date, Not Name

Most file explorers sort files by name by default. While this is useful for many cases, it’s far more useful to sort your Downloads folder by date. This keeps your recently downloaded files at the top for easy access.

To do so, just click the Date header to sort from newest to oldest files.