File Organization Guide
Organize files, find duplicates, and maintain clean folder structures.
When to Use
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Downloads folder is chaotic
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Can't find files (scattered everywhere)
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Duplicate files taking up space
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Folder structure doesn't make sense
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Starting a new project structure
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Cleaning up before archiving
Analysis Commands
Overview of directory
ls -la [directory]
Count file types
find [directory] -type f | sed 's/.*.//' | sort | uniq -c | sort -rn
Largest files
du -sh [directory]/* | sort -rh | head -20
Files modified this week
find [directory] -type f -mtime -7
Finding Duplicates
By hash (exact duplicates)
find [directory] -type f -exec md5sum {} ; | sort | uniq -d
By name
find [directory] -type f -printf '%f\n' | sort | uniq -d
By size
find [directory] -type f -printf '%s %p\n' | sort -n | uniq -D -w 10
Organization Patterns
By Type
Downloads/ ├── Documents/ # PDF, DOCX, TXT ├── Images/ # JPG, PNG, SVG ├── Videos/ # MP4, MOV ├── Archives/ # ZIP, TAR, DMG ├── Code/ # Projects └── ToSort/ # Needs decision
By Purpose
Documents/ ├── Work/ │ ├── Projects/ │ ├── Reports/ │ └── Archive/ └── Personal/ ├── Finance/ ├── Medical/ └── Archive/
By Date
Photos/ ├── 2024/ │ ├── 01-January/ │ ├── 02-February/ │ └── ... ├── 2023/ └── Unsorted/
Organization Workflow
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Analyze - Review current structure
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Plan - Propose new structure
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Confirm - Get user approval
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Execute - Move files systematically
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Summarize - Report changes
Execution Commands
Create structure
mkdir -p "path/to/new/folders"
Move files
mv "old/path/file.pdf" "new/path/file.pdf"
Batch move by extension
find . -name "*.pdf" -exec mv {} Documents/ ;
Best Practices
Folder Naming
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Clear, descriptive names
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Avoid spaces (use hyphens)
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Use prefixes for ordering: 01-current , 02-archive
File Naming
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Include dates: 2024-10-17-meeting-notes.md
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Be descriptive
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Remove download artifacts: file (1).pdf → file.pdf
When to Archive
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Not touched in 6+ months
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Completed work for reference
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Old versions after migration
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Files you're hesitant to delete
Maintenance Schedule
Frequency Task
Weekly Sort new downloads
Monthly Review/archive projects
Quarterly Check for duplicates
Yearly Archive old files
Important Rules
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Always confirm before deleting
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Log all moves for undo
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Preserve modification dates
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Stop and ask on unexpected situations