Organizing Records on Your Computer

Once you start actively researching your family, it doesn't take long to gather a ton of records.  Trying to keep them all organized can be daunting.  While there are many different ways to organize your files, I thought I would offer one of my favorite ways for organizing files on the computer.

I personally prefer to keep all my records on the computer for many different reasons.  So I'll take the time to scan in documents and photos for later use and reprinting.  But many of the records you''ll find will come from a website (like Ancestry.com or some other website), so it's nice to keep these organized so you can find them quickly later.

My system may not be the best, but it works for me.  So here it is ...

1. I've created a folder in MY DOCUMENTS called, "Family History"

2. Then in the Family History folder, I created a folder for each surname

3. Within the surname folder, I've created several different folder's labeled below:

• Census Records
• Birth Records
• Death Records
• Military Records
• Misc

For families that I have a lot of information on, I've also created specific folders for each them.  For example, I have a "John & Jane Smith" folder and another "John & Jane Doe" folder.  Obviously my folder names are different, but you get the idea. I do this in each of the surname folders.

By organizing my files this way, I find that I can retrieve information quicker when I need it because I'm looking through less files at a time.  This method helps me find specific information when I need it.

No doubt, others have found their own way of organizing their files too ... I hope folks will be willing to share their method of organizing files below so that we can all pick up some new tricks.