Keep all your documents organized with Windows 8 libraries

Windows 8Libraries are collections of files that keep your documents, music, pictures, and other files in one place. A library is similar to a folder in some ways, in that it can be used to browse and sort files, but it differs in that a library collects files stored in different locations.

Libraries don't actually store items, but retrieve them from the folders that contain them and allow you to access and organize them in a variety of ways.For example, if you have music files in folders on your Windows 8 computer and on an external drive, you can see all your music files at once through the Music Library.

What libraries are available in Windows 8?

In Windows 8 several libraries are included by default, one for each of the most common file types. Music, Documents, Images and Videos, are those that come installed as standard, so that users always have their multimedia and work documents at hand.

However, in Windows 8 you can create as many libraries as the user wants, being able to add files from different folders to them. For example, creating a new library can be useful when two users share the same computer and want to keep their audio files separate, but always close at hand in one library. Each user can create a library with her audio files and thus listen to what he likes best without mixing his musical tastes with the other's.

It can also be done the other way around, if several users on the same computer want to share their music, they can create a common library and thus have all their music together, but without mixing all the files in a single folder.

Another interesting option to create a library is when a user wants to separate their work and personal documents, but see them all together and not have to change locations or navigate to different folders when trying to locate a file . A possible solution is to create a library where all the documents from different locations can be collected.

How do I add a folder to a library

Adding a folder to a library is very simple. Just follow the steps below to, for example, add a folder with music to the Music Library on your computer:

• If you are viewing the New Library page in the File Browser, click on the option Include a folder, then select the folder and then click on Include folder It's that simple, you don't have to do nothing else.

If the New Library page is not open, follow the steps below.

• Open the File Explorer by swiping your finger or mouse from the right edge of the screen, then tap under Search, type File Explorer in the search box, tap or click Applications and then tap or click File Explorer

Expand location to find the folder you want to add, and when located, select it. For example, if you want to add a folder from a network, you would expand the network location and select the folder you want to add to the library.

• Click on the tab Home, click on Easy access and choose Include in Library, and then select the library to which you want to add the folder.

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