Create, Rename and Delete Folders

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About this lesson

Know how to create new folders, rename existing folders, and delete folders in File Explorer.

Quick reference

Create, Rename and Delete Folders

Create new folders, rename existing folders, and delete folders in File Explorer. 

When to use

We create new folders whenever we want to set up our own custom folders to store files in. We rename existing folders when we want to change the name and we delete folders when we no longer need them. 

Instructions

Create New Folders

  • Open File Explorer. 
  • Navigate to where you want to create the folder. 
  • Click the drop-down arrow next to New. 
  • Click Folder. 
  • Type a name for the folder. 
  • Press Enter. 

Rename an Existing Folder

  • Open File Explorer. 
  • Select the folder and press F2.  
  • OR, right-click on the folder and click the Rename icon.

Delete Files and Folders

  • Click on the file or folder to delete. 
  • Press the Delete key. 
  • OR, right-click on the file or folder and click the Delete icon. 

To delete multiple files or folders, hold down the CTRL key and select. Alternatively, use the item check boxes (if they are toggled on) to select. 

The Recycle Bin

Deleted Files and Folders go directly into the Recycle Bin. The Recycle Bin is represented by an icon on the desktop. Double-click on the Recycle Bin to view the contents. 

Restore a Delete Item

We can restore deleted items from the Recycle Bin. 

  • Go to the Recycle Bin.
  • Select one or more files to restore. 
  • Right-click and select Restore. 
  • OR, click the three dots on the ribbon and click Restore selected items. 

We can bulk delete everything in the Recycle Bin by choosing Empty Recycle Bin from the ribbon. 

Hints & tips

  • Restored files will be placed back into the original folder they were deleted from. 
  • We recommend emptying to recycle bin at various intervals to save space. 
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  • 00:03 In this lesson, we're going to take a look at how we can create,
  • 00:07 rename, and delete folders in File Explorer,
  • 00:10 because this is something you will find yourself doing all of the time.
  • 00:14 As I mentioned in one of the previous lessons, in general,
  • 00:17 when we're trying to select a folder to save a file into, we want to try and
  • 00:21 work with the current structure that's there.
  • 00:23 But that doesn't mean that we can't add to the structure and add our own subfolders.
  • 00:28 So let's take a look at creating a folder first of all.
  • 00:31 So I've opened up File Explorer.
  • 00:34 Currently, I'm clicked on Quick Access,
  • 00:36 which shows me some of those most commonly used folders.
  • 00:40 So let's go to Documents.
  • 00:42 Let's double click.
  • 00:43 Now as we know,
  • 00:44 we already have some folders in here that have been created by the system.
  • 00:48 But I can also add my own folders in here.
  • 00:51 So maybe I want a folder to store all of the work that I do for my clients.
  • 00:56 So I'm going to create a brand new subfolder, effectively, called Clients.
  • 01:00 And there's a couple of different ways that I can do this.
  • 01:03 I can right-click my mouse, go down to New, and from there I have Folder.
  • 01:10 Alternatively, I can use the menu running across the top, click the New button,
  • 01:15 and choose Folder from here.
  • 01:17 And straightaway it gives me a brand new folder,
  • 01:20 the word New folder is highlighted.
  • 01:22 So I can overtype with the new name.
  • 01:25 So let's call this one Clients.
  • 01:27 All I need to do is type the name, press Enter, and now I have my new subfolder.
  • 01:32 I can then double-click to go into that folder and
  • 01:35 see any files I have stored inside.
  • 01:37 I can even create a subfolder of this folder.
  • 01:41 So maybe now I have my Clients folder,
  • 01:43 I want to divide it down into the different clients that I have.
  • 01:47 So this time I'm going to right-click, we're going to go to New,
  • 01:50 we're going to say folder, and exactly the same process.
  • 01:53 So let's type in the name of my first client, MicroWorld, press Enter.
  • 01:58 Let's do one more.
  • 01:59 Right-click, go down to New > Folder.
  • 02:02 And this one is going to be called, let's just say, Train, Tech and hit Enter again.
  • 02:10 And if I double-click, I'm now working in that subfolder.
  • 02:14 And you can see the breadcrumb trail at the top shows
  • 02:17 me the exact path that I've taken.
  • 02:19 This PC documents Clients, MicroWorld, nice and straightforward.
  • 02:24 Remember, we can use this breadcrumb trail to go back a folder and back again.
  • 02:28 Now that I've created those folders,
  • 02:31 I can also see those folders by expanding the folder structure in the folder list.
  • 02:35 So if I click the arrow next to documents, I can then expand clients and
  • 02:40 I can see MicroWorld just here.
  • 02:42 When I click on it, it's going to open up that folder and
  • 02:45 I can see any files I have stored inside.
  • 02:47 Now what about if I make a mistake and I need to rename an existing folder?
  • 02:52 Well, we can definitely do that as well.
  • 02:55 So I'm going to go back to the Clients folder just by using the breadcrumb trail.
  • 02:59 And maybe instead of TrainTech, this is supposed to be TrainingTech.
  • 03:04 So I need to rename this folder.
  • 03:06 Now, this is something that is different in Windows 11.
  • 03:09 In Windows 10, if we wanted to rename a folder,
  • 03:12 we would simply right-click and we would have a rename option in this menu.
  • 03:16 But now we don't have that.
  • 03:18 Now, if that's confusing to you, if we go down to show more options,
  • 03:21 it's going to bring back that old school menu where we can find our Rename button.
  • 03:25 But in Windows 11, when we right-click, notice at the top we have some icons.
  • 03:31 And this third one along is the Rename button.
  • 03:35 Notice there's also a keyboard shortcut here of F2.
  • 03:38 So if I click Rename,
  • 03:40 it allows me to make any changes that I need to this folder name.
  • 03:45 So we're going to call this TrainingTech, hit Enter, and
  • 03:47 that folder has been renamed.
  • 03:50 Remember if we press the F2 key it's going to take us back in and
  • 03:53 we can make any further changes.
  • 03:55 Click away to set.
  • 03:56 Now, when it comes to deleting folders, fairly straightforward process.
  • 04:00 So if I decide that I want to delete these two client folders because I have
  • 04:04 item checkboxes enabled, as I hover over,
  • 04:07 I can simply select them by using the checkboxes.
  • 04:11 Now, if I didn't have checkboxes enabled, so let's in fact turn these off.
  • 04:15 Let's go to View > Show, and I'm going to toggle off Item checkboxes.
  • 04:21 So now I don't have those.
  • 04:22 If I want to select these two folders, I would click on the first one,
  • 04:26 hold down Ctrl and click on the second one.
  • 04:29 And I can simply press the Delete key on my keyboard.
  • 04:32 Or alternatively on the menu running across the top, I have a delete button, or
  • 04:37 I can even right-click and I have Delete in here.
  • 04:40 When I click on on Delete, both of those are going to disappear.
  • 04:44 Now when we delete files and folders from File Explorer,
  • 04:47 they get moved to the Recycle Bin.
  • 04:49 And if you recall, we can find our Recycle Bin as a handy shortcut on our desktop.
  • 04:55 So here is the Recycle Bin,
  • 04:56 if I double-click to open it we find that it is just another folder.
  • 05:01 And this is going to show me anything that I've deleted recently.
  • 05:04 Now, what about if I've deleted these two folders and you can see it there,
  • 05:07 TrainingTech and MicroWorld.
  • 05:08 What about if I decide that I want to bring those back?
  • 05:12 Well, what I can do is I can select both by holding down the Ctrl key, and
  • 05:16 I can choose to restore these items.
  • 05:19 So if I right-click, I have a Restore option.
  • 05:23 When I click on Restore, it's going to move them out of the Recycle Bin, and
  • 05:27 it's going to place them back in the folder that they were deleted from.
  • 05:30 So if I now go back to the Documents folder on my PC and
  • 05:34 jump into Clients, there are those folders back again.
  • 05:38 Also notice when we go into the Recycle Bin,
  • 05:41 we can choose to empty our Recycle Bin from here.
  • 05:44 So a nice habit to get into is maybe at the end of the week, you come in here and
  • 05:48 empty all of your deleted items just to help keep your system size down.
  • 05:53 But that's how simple it is to create new folders, new subfolders, rename
  • 05:58 existing folders, and also delete folders and restore them from your Recycle Bin.

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