How to organize your computer desktop

We’ve all seen them – computer desktops that are filled entirely with icons. Some desktops even have overlapping icons because there are just too many documents, images, and shortcuts saved there. For the same reason you file paper documents and organize our belongings systematically, you should maintain an organized computer desktop.

Here are 4 steps to clearing out a messy desktop, to help you find things faster and work more productively:

Go through each icon on your desktop one at a time and ask yourself whether you want to keep it or delete it. If it was an email attachment from a year ago that you only needed once, delete it. If it’s a great family photo, however, keep it.
Next, decide where you should store all of the items you kept. Think of your desktop like a real desktop, with only your most important items on top and other documents/items filed in drawers. Your desktop space should be reserved for items you reference almost daily. Having them easily accessible saves you time, but the opposite is true if you cannot find them quickly among too many other icons. For items you would like to store in your documents, photos, or music folders, move them to the appropriate folders.
Now you should be left with only your most frequently used icons. To save you time, try grouping them by category (ie. work, family, expenses). You can even create a desktop wallpaper to help you maintain organized icons; check out this cute idea!
Moving forward, make sure you save documents, images, and downloads in the appropriate place. Instead of quickly saving items to your desktop, find the correct folder and name the item in a way that allows you to reference back to it later.

Have any tips of your own? Share your newly organized desktops with us!

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Comments

Use "Fences" to corral your icons

Submitted by Anonymous on Sat, 08/04/2012 - 6:06am.

I use a free program called "Fences" to corral my desktop icons.

http://www.stardock.com/products/fences/index.asp?from=subnav

How to organize your computer desktop