Find the File: Folders, Paths and the Recycle Bin

This section shows the six kinds of jobs on today's bench: saving a file, moving it, renaming it, making a folder, searching for a file, and deleting and restoring. Every job uses the same small set of buttons, so learning them once is enough for the whole bench.

Folders and Paths

A computer keeps files in folders, and folders can sit inside other folders. The path names every folder on the way to a file, from the outside in, with an arrow between them. The path Documents › School › English means: open Documents, then School inside it, then English inside that.

The path bar at the top of the window shows the folder that is open now. Click any name in the path bar to jump back to that folder, or click ↑ Up to go one folder out. The list on the left opens the main places: Desktop, Documents, Downloads, Pictures and the Recycle Bin.

How to open a folder that is deep inside another:

1. Click the first folder in the path on the left (for example, Documents).
2. Double-click the next folder in the path, or select it and click Open.
3. Keep going until the path bar shows the whole path the job names.

Saving the Essay in Notepad

Notepad, on the right, holds an essay that has never been saved. Until it is saved, the title says Untitled (not saved). Saving asks two questions: which folder, and what name.

1. Click Save (or press Ctrl+S).
2. In the window that opens, click the folder the job names. The line under the list shows the path you picked.
3. Type the file name. Read the job for what the name must include.
4. Click OK. Notepad's title changes to the name you gave it.

Moving and Renaming

There are two ways to move a file. Drag it onto a folder (in the window, in the path bar or in the list on the left), or select it and click Move to…, then pick the folder and click OK. Moving takes the file out of the old folder; it is not a copy.

To rename, select the file and click Rename (or press F2), type the new name, and press Enter. Keep the extension, the part after the dot, unless the job asks you to change it: report.docx renamed to final-report.docx is still a Word document.

Example 1. A job says: move recipe.pdf from Downloads into Documents › Personal. Which folder do you open first, and where do you drop the file?

Show the solution

Open Downloads, because that is where recipe.pdf is now. Then drag recipe.pdf onto Documents in the list on the left, open Documents, and drag it again onto Personal. Or select it, click Move to…, click Personal under Documents, and click OK.

Making a Folder

1. Open the folder the new one goes inside. Check the path bar.
2. Click New folder.
3. Type the name the job gives, exactly, and press Enter.

Searching

When a job says a file is "somewhere on this computer", do not open folders one at a time. Type part of its name in Search this PC. Every file whose name has those letters shows up, with its path under it. A search can find several files with the same word, so read the names before you act.

From the results, you can drag a file straight to a folder in the list on the left, or select it and use Move to…. Open file location opens the folder the file is in.

Deleting and Restoring

Delete sends a file to the Recycle Bin. It is not gone yet: open the Recycle Bin on the left, select the file and click Restore, and it goes back to the folder it came from. A deleted file you need again is always worth looking for in the Recycle Bin first.

Example 2. A job says a file was deleted by mistake. Where do you look, and where does it go when you restore it?

Show the solution

Open the Recycle Bin from the list on the left. Select the file and click Restore. It goes back to the folder it was deleted from, and from there you can move it wherever the next job asks.