Lifehacker: The Guide to Working Smarter, Faster, and Better, Third Edition

Hack 19: Create Saved Search Folders

Level Easy

Platform Windows (Vista and 7), Mac OS X (10.4+)

Cost Free

As you begin to file your documents less and depend on searches more, it makes sense to combine the folder paradigm and search capabilities with saved search folders. A saved search folder is a container for files that match certain criteria. For example, if you have several files in different folders and subfolders on your computer, each with the word lifehacker in the title, a search for “all files with the word lifehacker in the title” would list those files. Save that search as a folder, and you get an on-the-fly collection of documents that share the same characteristics in a virtual folder.

The main advantage of saved search folders versus regular old-fashioned folders is that a file can exist in more than one folder at the same time. A Word document named lifehacker.doc appears in both the lifehacker in title saved search folder and the All Word documents saved search folder. This way of organizing your search results allows you to slice and dice your information any way you need it. Saved search folders come in most handy on a temporary basis: while you’re working on a certain project, for instance. When you delete a saved search folder, the files inside it aren’t deleted; they continue to live on in their respective locations. This hack shows you how to start creating saved search folders in both Windows and Mac OS.

NOTE Windows XP does not feature saved search folders. ...