What is a computer file on Windows?

Computer file, we’ve heard the term thrown around online and at some point, we’ve dealt with it in our lives. Originally named after the physical document management system, a file has become a rather abstract concept – just like how a floppy disk became more known as the “Save” icon, rather than a physical storage that people who grew up before the social media era knew.

But what is a computer file and how does it work exactly? Let’s find out the basics in this blog article.

What is a computer file?

A computer file is basically a way to record or store data inside your computer. Think of it as a digital version of a paper file. Actually, when the term file was first used in the context of computer storage in 1940, the name actually referred to a punched card file.

What is a folder?

Though typically they go hand in hand, a folder isn’t the same as a file. A file folder is a way for your computer to store and organize multiple files. You can save a file inside a folder, but you can’t save a folder inside a file. Similar to files whose name came from a punched card file, folders borrowed the term from a physical folder.

Types of Files

A computer file is designed to store and handle data in a specific way. There are different types of data exist in computer systems, resulting in different types of files. For example, if you have audio data, your computer will save and handle this as an audio file. If you have text data, your computer will save and handle this as a text file, et cetera.

Different operating systems would use different file types as well. For example, text document files in Windows are called “.docx files” while on Mac they’re called “.pages files”. Those files are saved and handled differently; you can’t edit .doc files from non-Windows environments or edit .pages files on Windows. However, in some cases, there are also file types that work universally regardless of the operating system, such as “.txt files” and “.pdf files”.

File Formats

File formats refer to the way the information inside a file is stored and processed by a computer. As briefly mentioned above, different types of information data will be saved and handled in different ways by computer systems following the file format.

An example of this: audio files like MP3 audio files have different structures inside and will be processed differently compared to image files like JPG files or TXT text files.

File Extensions

File formats typically are indicated by extensions in file names, also known as file extensions. File extensions are the three-character extension at the end of the file name which tells the computer system about the file type and what application should be used to open it.

When you save a cat picture on your computer, the system will recognize that it’s an image file and add the extension accordingly, like catpicture.jpg for example. The system will also understand that it needs to open an image viewer and editor app if you want to access the cat pictures on your computer, and it will also know that you can’t open an image file in audio software.

How Computer Files Are Stored

Your computer has tons of individual files stored inside your system just to run the machine alone. To make sure the system runs efficiently, your computer has a smart method to store and process all of those files. This method is also called a file system.

A file system works in a tree-like structure with hierarchies like this:

C:\
├── Documents\
│ ├── Work\
│ ├── School\
│ │ └── Homework.docx
│ └── Personal\
├── Music\
├── Pictures\
└── Videos\

The above structure tells the following:

• The C: drive is the root of your computer system where everything starts
• Inside the C: drive, you have different folders where you organize different file categories, such as documents, music, pictures, and videos
• Within those folders, you have some subfolders to further categorize the content. For example, you have different documents related to different areas of your life, so you have work, school, and personal subfolders inside the documents folder
• Within those subfolders, you have different individual files with different file content. For example, you have a homework document called Homework.docx

To better understand the file system hierarchy, think of it as visiting a library. Let’s imagine that you need to read the content on page 57 of HP Lovecraft’s In the Mouth of Madness.

1. First, you’ll need to go to a specific shelf in the literary section of the library to find the book. This is very similar to accessing the drive in your system.
2. Then, once you get there, you can get a hand of HP Lovecraft’s In the Mouth of Madness. This is very similar to accessing the folder.
3. Lastly, once you get the book, you’ll open page 57 to read the content. This is basically what accessing single files looks like.

Nowadays, as the user interface in Windows gets so much better, you can easily type in the name of the file you’re looking for in the Windows search bar to access it, instead of going to Windows Explorer and opening each folder and subfolder. However, it’s still important to at least understand how the hierarchy works so you can better manage and organize your computer files.

What is a file path?

Aside from understanding the file and folder hierarchy and how files are stored inside your system, it’s also important to understand the concept of file path. A file path is basically a direction in your system where you can find a specific file you can access.

Say, for example, you want to find the Homework.docx document nested in the folders below:

C:\
├── Documents\
│ ├── Work\
│ ├── School\
│ │ └── Homework.docx
│ └── Personal\
├── Music\
├── Pictures\
└── Videos\

The file path you need will look like this:

C:\Documents\School\Homework.docx

The file path works following the hierarchy and reads from left to right. Based on the example above, the file path tells you that you need to open the drive C: > open the Documents folder > then open the School subfolder to access the Homework.docx file.

File Management Best Practices

It’s very easy to lose track of files inside your computer so you need file management to better organize your files and make sure your system runs efficiently. Here are some best practices you can try:

• Use descriptive and consistent names

When naming files inside your system, it’s important to use descriptive names and apply them consistently. For example, when you have a picture of your cat hanging out in the garden, you could name it as “cat_picture_garden.png” instead of “img_1000_71.png”. You’ll also need to consistently use the descriptive name with enough context across all of your files and folders so you can easily find them again in the future.

• Use a logical hierarchical structure

Using a logical hierarchical structure will help you to easily find the file location. Rather than dumping all files in a drive, you can group them based on the type of file and save them in separate locations using folders and subfolders. For example, rather than putting all of your files in drive D: you can group and save them into separate folders for images, videos, documents, et cetera. You can also organize this further by saving all document files in different subfolders depending on their purposes, for example, you can save work-related documents in the Work subfolder and save personal documents in the Personal subfolder inside the Document folder.

• Regularly review and declutter your computer files

One important step you need to take is to review all of your files regularly. From there you can group and organize them in appropriate folders and drives or delete the ones you no longer need. An additional benefit of doing this is that you’ll also save storage space.

• Back up Computer Files

To make sure that you won’t lose your important files, especially the ones that contain sensitive information, you need to make sure to back up your computer files. Windows has its own backup utility you can use, so make sure that the tool runs the backup process correctly and that you have enough storage space for it.

• Protect Computer Files

You may want to also protect your computer files to prevent unauthorized users from accessing your files. This is especially important if you share your computer with other people. You can easily do this by password-protecting your files using the Windows Encryption method. Another measure you can take is to use Solid State Drives (SSD) since they work better in storing data in large capacity and are less volatile.

• Use cloud storage or physical storage device when needed

When you’re running out of storage space but still have computer files that you want to keep, you can save them in cloud storage like Microsoft OneDrive and Google Drive or use physical storage devices like USB drives. Make sure to turn on 2FA for your cloud account and never plug your USB drive into an unknown device as an additional measure to protect your files.

Conclusion

Computer files are an important part of our daily life and yet the concept of file can still feel abstract. To put it briefly, a file is basically a way for you to store your data digitally. Nowadays you can easily search for files using the File Explorer program or Windows search bar instead of opening the drive folders and subfolders one by one, it’s still important to understand how the hierarchy works.

That being said, File Explorer still has limitations when it comes to advanced file searching and this is why our team developed WinFindr. WinFindr is a lightweight and fast app for searching files, folders, and registry data. With a few clicks, you can easily find anything you want inside your computer. Not only can you search based on the name, but you can also search based on file size, type, content, and metadata.

You can download WinFindr for free in the Portable or Setup version by visiting this link.