Naming Files that you save on your computer!
When you save a file (document, photo, spreadsheet, presentation, webpage, etc) on your computer, there are a few basic rules that you can follow to ensure that you can find the file again easily, know a bit about the contents of the file, and help other computers and online systems understand how to handle the file when you share, e-mail, post, and/or upload it.
As with most things in the realm of technology there are many more rules and best practices for this topic than we will list here and of course, there are varying opinions about those rules and best practices as well! However, if you learn and put the following ideas into practice, your digital life will be more organized, less cluttered and easier to navigate!
File Names:
When saving a file(s) to your computer it is best to…..
- Save the file(s) in a folder that will hold all of them in a common and easy to find location.
- Name the folder so that you can recognize it when searching for it later
- Name the file(s) something specific and as descriptive as possible
For example, if you are saving multiple files for one project, it is easier to keep up with how they are related to the project if they are named specifically for that project and have some recognizable information in them about the contents of the file.
For a presentation you may have notes in a text file, a printable handout for attendees that you create in Microsoft Word, and photos for a Power Point slide show.
- Instead of naming the presentation folder “Presentation” which doesn’t tell us anything about the presentation, name it something like “presNpsb051812″
- Abbreviate as much as possible to keep folder and file names short and concise
- And instead of naming the files for this presentation “notes.txt” and “handout.doc” and “photo1.jpg” and “photo2.jpg” you should name them like this:
- presNpsb051812myNotes.txt, presNpsb051812HndOutPrntColor.doc, presNpsb051812Final.ppt, presNpsb051812OurLogoColor.jpg, presNpsb051812HsLunchTime.jpg, presNpsb051812smartBrdDetails.jpg
Always Remember the following rules when naming files:
- Use letters and numbers only
- Letters can be lowercase or uppercase or a combination of both
- Avoid using special characters like #, $, %, &, (), /, _
- Never use a period or comma
- Never use a hyphen
- Never include a space or spaces
Here’s a screen shot of an example Folder with Files that are properly named.
There are many reasons that the rules above make file naming more universal and less problematic. A few of the top reasons include:
- Different operating systems (Windows & MAC OS) handle file names differently and will not accept certain special characters.
- The way that your computer handles file names and the way that the internet and internet browsers interpret files names vary.
- They are easier to recognize, organize and find on your computer.
File Extensions:
File extensions are the group of letters that appear at the end of a file name and include the “.” that separates the extension from the file name that you create.
File extensions in general help operating systems and the internet recognize different kinds of files and in particular cases, they tell computers and the internet what software application was used to create the file.
When saving files pay attention to the following details in the file extensions and make sure that you are keeping the file extension in place properly:
- File extensions ALWAYS start with a “.”
- Never have any punctuation inside of them
- Usually have 3 or 4 characters in them
- Should always be lower case unless the software application forces capitalization
Some common file extensions are as follows:
- Images: .png, .gif, .jpg, bmp
- Videos: .mp2, mp4, .3gp, .avi
- Music: .mp3, .aiff, .aac, .wav
- Text: .txt
- Internet: .html, .php, .asp
- Application Installations: .exe
Here are a few examples of file extensions that are specific to particular software applications:
- Microsoft Word (.doc), Microsoft Excel (.xls), Microsoft Power Point (.ppt)
- Acrobat Reader (.pdf)
- Adobe Photoshop (.psd), Adobe Illustrator (.ai), Adobe Flash (.flv)
Hope this helps and TGIF!
