Files and folders in File Explorer

Everything you keep on a PC is a file: a photo, a note, a picture of your app's screen. Files are kept in a folder, and a folder can hold other folders. The app that shows them is File Explorer.

Open File Explorer

Click the yellow folder icon on the taskbar. Or hold Windows and press E. A window opens.

Down the left side is the sidebar. The places you will use most:

• Desktop: what is on your screen behind the windows.
• Documents: a good home for long-term files.
• Downloads: where the browser puts files from the internet.
• Pictures: where screenshots go.
• This PC: everything on the computer, including how much space is free.

The main area shows what is inside the place you clicked. Folders are yellow. Files show a small picture of their contents or of the app that opens them. Double-click a folder to go into it. Click the < arrow at the top-left of the window to go back.

About OneDrive

Many PCs keep the Desktop, Documents and Pictures folders in OneDrive, Microsoft's online storage. You can tell because those folders show a small cloud or a green tick next to each file, and the sidebar lists them under a cloud icon named OneDrive. This is fine. Your files are still on the PC, and a copy is also kept online, which protects them if the PC breaks. The only thing to know: when a step says "Documents", it may be the Documents inside OneDrive on your PC. Both are the same folder.

Make the Binder folder

This folder is for practice. In Part 4 you will make the real one for your app.

1. Click Desktop in the sidebar.
2. Right-click an empty spot in the main area. A menu appears.
3. Click New, then Folder. On Windows 11 you can instead click the New button at the top-left of the window, then Folder. A yellow folder appears, named "New folder", with the name highlighted.
4. Type Binder. The old name is replaced as you type.
5. Press Enter. The folder is now called Binder. It also appears on your Desktop.

Rename, move, delete

• Rename: click the folder once to select it, press F2, type the new name, press Enter. Or right-click it and click Rename (on Windows 11 it may be a small icon at the top of the menu).
• Move: drag a file onto a folder and let go. It goes inside.
• Delete: click a file once and press Delete. Or right-click it and click Delete (a bin icon on Windows 11). The file waits in the Recycle Bin on the Desktop until you empty it, so a mistake can be undone.

Practice

1. Double-click the Binder folder. It opens, empty.
2. Click the < arrow to go back to Desktop.
3. Rename the folder to Binder practice, then rename it back to Binder.