How to Make a New Folder

Do you want to bring some much-needed organization to your collection of files and documents? Folders are essential for storing data on a computer, and creating a good file structure for your personal documents and photos can make finding what you need a whole lot easier. Read on after the jump to lear n how to create folders in Windows, OS X, and Linux.

Open the location that you want to create the folder. Using Windows Explorer, navigate to the location that you want your new folder to reside. You can create a folder at any location on your hard drive, even on your desktop.

• To open Windows Explorer press Ctrl + E, or open your Documents folder.

Right click on a blank space in the folder or on your desktop. Once you've found the location you want to create your folder in, right-click on blank space. Right-clicking on an existing icon will bring up the wrong menu.

• In many versions of Windows, you can click the "New Folder" button in the menu bar at the top of the window to create a new folder in the current location.

Select New from the right-click menu. A submenu will appear, showing all of the options for creating a new object. Select Folder from the top of the list. A new folder will appear at your current location. 

Give the folder a name. When you create the folder, the name will be automatically highlighted. You can type in whatever name you'd like, and then press Enter to save it. The name cannot contain the following characters:

• ~
• #
• %
• &
• *
• {}
• \
• :
• <>
• +
• |
• "