I thought Windows libraries were useless until I used them like this

File Explorer includes features that are easy to overlook, especially when Windows hides them. Libraries are one such feature, as Windows 11 doesn’t even have them enabled by default.

Libraries are initially confusing, and many people won’t need them. But if you take time to craft them to your liking, they can be an underrated way to make sense of your file organization.

Introducing libraries

Windows libraries are virtual containers that let you see the contents of multiple folders at once. Using them, you can view data from various places on your computer all in one location, reducing the need to click around or remember where everything is.

There are four by default, and they share names with the basic data folders for your account. It’s thus easy to confuse them, plus Windows doesn’t do a great job of explaining what libraries are for.

In Windows 11, you have to enable libraries to see them and start using them. To do this, open File Explorer, click the three-dot button on the toolbar, and choose Options. In the resulting menu, select the View tab. Scroll to the bottom of the Advanced settings box and check Show libraries under Navigation pane.

Once you’ve done this, you’ll see a new Libraries entry at the bottom of File Explorer’s left-side panel. You can also type “libraries” into the navigation bar to jump there.

Understanding and customizing libraries

By default, you’ll have four libraries available: Documents, Music, Pictures, and Videos. These correspond to the four folders Windows has had for personal files for a long time, which you’ll find under C:Users[Your Username].

To start, each library contains only the corresponding folder in your user profile, but libraries are not useful like this. To take full advantage, you need to add more folders to them. Right-click a library and choose Properties to set it up.

Inside the window, click Add to include another folder in the library—browse to it and choose Include folder. Libraries can have as many locations as you want, so repeat that until you’re satisfied. You can always Remove them later if you want to.

Once that’s done, you’ll see every directory you’ve added under Library locations. Before you exit, you should use Set save location to choose a folder that the library will save to by default. Then, when you select that library in a Save As menu, the file will save to your chosen folder.

Set public save location isn’t important if you’re the only user on your PC. If you want to share a library with someone else, you should include the relevant folder under C:UsersPublic here and make that the public save location.

Create your own libraries

The four default libraries are great, but you aren’t limited to them. Right-click inside the Libraries page and choose New > Library to set up your own. After naming it, right-click the new library and choose Properties to add folders and set a default save location as you did for the default libraries.

You can leave Optimize this library for as General items unless what you’re saving falls under one of the other four types. Keep Show in navigation pane checked to easily access it from the left panel. And especially if you set up multiple libraries, it’s worth using Change library icon to keep them visually distinct. Flaticon is a good source for icons if you don’t like the built-in ones.

You can add a folder to a library from anywhere in File Explorer; you don’t have to revisit the above menu every time. Right-click the folder you want to add and choose Include in library, followed by whichever one you choose.

Using libraries to the fullest

When you open a library, you’ll see all the files within, grouped by library location. You can collapse these for easier navigation and click a heading to select all the files within it. Standard File Explorer options like sorting, renaming, and creating ZIP folders apply across all files in a library, so you can manage more data at once.

Libraries are most useful for grouping similar folders across scattered locations. My trick of stacking free cloud accounts for lots of storage is a great example.

You can get around splitting your storage across multiple cloud services by putting them all in one library. Having 10GB of photos in Google Drive, 4GB in OneDrive, and 4GB in Proton Drive isn’t as annoying when you can see them all in one place.

It’s also worth thinking beyond file types and into broader groupings. If you’re working on a presentation, website, video, or other task, create a library to keep all the materials for it in one place. You can delete the library later, which removes the container view but doesn’t erase the files within.

Windows indexes libraries, meaning searches within them are super quick. If you find your PC searches getting bogged down with less relevant items (and haven’t tried a better Windows search app), try using libraries to limit your searches.

Another underrated element of libraries is that File History backs them all up. Thus, creating a library is an easy way to back up anything that’s not already covered. Search for File History in the Start menu to make sure it’s enabled; you’ll see Libraries mentioned in the list of locations backed up.

Libraries are powerful when used correctly

The default implementation of libraries is lackluster. But once you realize what they’re for and customize them, they become a much more useful tool. Smart views that let you group the contents of many locations save a lot of time.

If you have a simple folder structure, you might not need libraries. But I recommend giving them a try and seeing if they help you make sense of messy files. The less time you spend digging around File Explorer, the more time you have to work with the files you actually care about.