2. Files and folders

Unit A · Using a computer

Files and folders

What we are making: a folder of your own, with something saved in it that you can find again next week. This is the most useful hour in the whole unit.

The idea

Everything on a computer is a file. Your work, a photo, a song, a program. A file has a name, and it sits somewhere.

A folder holds files, and can hold other folders. That is the whole system. It works exactly like a cupboard with boxes in it, and boxes inside those boxes.

A place for everything. That last one is what happens when you do not choose.

New words

FileOne thing, with a name. Your work is a file.

FolderA container for files. Also called a directory.

SaveWrite your work into a file so it survives being closed.

File nameWhat you call it. Choose this yourself, always.

ExtensionThe bit after the dot. It says what kind of file it is.

The bit that matters

When you save something, the computer asks you two questions:

What is it called?
Where does it go?

Most people answer the first one badly and ignore the second one completely. Then the file is called Untitled-3 and nobody, including the computer, knows where it went.

Ten seconds spent naming a file saves twenty minutes finding it.

⚠ Careful

Never use a space at the start of a name, and never use these characters: / \ : * ? " < > |. The computer uses them for its own purposes and will refuse or, worse, quietly rename your file.

Do it — make your place

Open the file manager. On Windows it is File Explorer, the yellow folder on the bar at the bottom.
Click Documents in the list on the left.
Right-click in the empty space. Choose New → Folder.
Type Robotics and press Enter. Do not leave it as 'New folder'.
Double-click it. You are now inside it. Notice the path across the top changed.

Do it — save something into it

Open a text program. Type three sentences about what you want to build this year.
File → Save As. Not Save — Save As, because this file does not exist yet.
In the box that opens, click your way to Documents → Robotics.
Name it my-plan. Click Save.
Close the program completely. Then find the file again and open it, using only the file manager.

💡 Tip

That last step is the real test. Anybody can save. The skill is opening it again a week later without help.

Try it — the finding game

In pairs. One of you saves a file somewhere sensible while the other looks away. Then the other has thirty seconds to find it. Swap. Three rounds each.

💡 Tip

If you cannot find a file, use search — the box at the top right of the file manager, or press the Windows key and start typing the name. Search is not cheating. It is what everybody does.

If it goes wrong

What you see	Why	What to do
The file is not where you saved it	It went to the default place, not yours.	Look in Documents and in Downloads. Then use search.
Two files with almost the same name	You used Save As twice.	Open both. Keep the newer one. Delete the other, on purpose.
It will not let you name it	You used a forbidden character, or a space at the start.	Letters, numbers and hyphens only. That always works.
Everything vanished	You are inside a different folder than you think.	Look at the path across the top. It tells you exactly where you are.

What you learned

Everything is a file, and every file sits in a folder.
Saving asks two questions. Answer both.
A good file name says what the thing is.
Save As is for new files. Save is for ones that already exist.
You can always find a file again with search.

Challenge optional — only if you finish early

Make a folder inside a folder inside a folder, three deep, and save a file at the bottom.
Then find it again without clicking through — use the search box.

1. What a computer actually is