Make Windows folders easier to manage

When you have dozens of folders under the same root directory, managing them in a productive way gets increasingly difficult. Their icons all look the same and it takes you way too long to find what you’re looking for.

There are some third-party apps with which you can add color to Windows folders and make them therefore easier to spot. But if you would prefer not to install anything, let me tell you a very simple trick to make the Windows folder structure more attractive, useful and easier to manage.

The trick consists on taking advantage of the folder’s capability to display an image. If you select the Thumbnail view in Windows Explorer, you’ll see that the folder icon displays any images saved on that folder, which comes in handy to identify them. What you may not know is that you can set a given image to be used on the folder icon. Simply right click on the folder, select Properties, click on the Customize tab and then click on the Choose picture button. You’ll be able to select the photo you want to have displayed on the folder.

There’s an even easier way to make Windows use a customized image on folders. Just enter the folder, choose the picture you want to use and rename it to folder.jpg. Windows will automatically display it on the folder. Besides making the whole folder structure more attractive and colorful, this trick is especially useful with large, structured file collections such as your music library or your photo collection.