Organizing Application Folders

I have more than 100 entries in my Applications folder and although there is finder and spotlight to launch apps, I find this quite cluttered.
In Windows System, I would usually organize the application in folders such as Security, Online, Multimedia, Education, etc.
Can we do the same in Mac? All apps defaults to /Applications. Not sure what will be the impact if I start moving the application into sub folder e.g. /Applications/Multimedia (e.g. Adobe CS4).

you can only move applications that were installed by drag and drop. none of the system applications or applications installed using installers should be touched. if you want to organize use aliases to the original applications and place them in folders of your choice.

Similar Messages

  • Re-organizing Applications folder

    My Applications folder is getting rather full. It takes a noticeable length of time just to open it (nothing worrying, just a noticeable lag). I know this is due to the number of items. I'd like to organize the apps into 5 or 6 "category" folders (eg movie stuff, sound stuff, graphics stuff, etc.
    Is there any reason at all that certain apps need to be at the top of the Applications folder (ie not in a folder in the apps folder)?
    Is there any argument for ~not~ putting apps in a folder within the applications folder; that its not a good idea?

    Is there any argument for ~not~ putting apps in a
    folder within the applications folder; that its not a
    good idea?
    Definitely not a good idea. Many apps require that they be located at /Applications, especially Apple's apps. The most common problem that occurs if they are moved is that they fail to update properly via Software Update.
    What you can do is create a folder somewhere, organized any way you like, with aliases to your apps. That way you can have your custom-organized "Applications" folder, while leaving the real Applications folder untouched. You can also drop your "Applications" folder (the one with the aliases in it) into the right side of the dock, so that you can right-click on it and navigate to your programs that way, kinda like the Windows Start Menu.

  • I have 300 apps organized in folders on my ipod touch 4th gen, and connected my iphone 4, these apps have copied over but none have been placed in folders, any ideas how to replicate folders from ipod to iphone...?

    I have 300 apps organized in folders on my ipod touch 4th gen, and connected my iphone 4, these apps have copied over but none have been placed in folders, any ideas how to replicate folders from ipod to iphone...?

    What may work is to restore the iPhone fom the backup of the iPod.  However, if the two devices ahve different apps that come with the device, that may mess up some of the folders.

  • Iphoto library transfer not organized in folders

    My Mac book pro HD was full and I wanted a larger 500GB HDD. I had Best Buy swap out the old drive for a new HDD.
    I needed to transfer my iphoto collection to my computer ( with the new high capacity HDD ). I used a adaptor to conncect the now externalized HDD to the mac book pro. It was recognized. I was able to then tranfer my photos from the library to the desktop of my mac book pro (all 12000 pictures and videos ). I then dragged this to iphotos and all 12000 pictures transferred sucessfully. The problem is that I had all of these pictures organized by folders with event names and dates. They did not transfer over like this. All 12000 came over into a single event folder arranged in random order.
    HELP! Is there a way to fix this. I need all of these 12000 pictures organized like they were ...in about 200 or so event folders.
    The externalized HDD is now unreadable! Dont know what happened to it but now when I connect it, the mac book does not recognize it and it is unreadable..maybe this can be fixed and it still has all of my folders on it with my pictures organized.
    I still have the photos sitting in my desk top as well ( from the original tranfer as I did save then to the desk top thankfully )
    Any advise is appreciated
    Thank you

    You do not provide details of how you transfered the iPhoto library - the correct way is
    Moving the iPhoto library is safe and simple - quit iPhoto and drag the iPhoto library intact as a single entity to the external drive - depress the option key and launch iPhoto using the "select library" option to point to the new location on the external drive - fully test it and then trash the old library on the internal drive (test one more time prior to emptying the trash)
    And be sure that the External drive is formatted Mac OS extended (journaled) (iPhoto does not work with drives with other formats) and that it is always available prior to launching iPhoto
    And backup soon and often - having your iPhoto library on an external drive is not a backup and if you are using Time Machine you need to check and be sure that TM is backing up your external drive
    You do not transfer photos and you do not import anything - just drag the iPhoto library package accross and open it with iPhoto
    LN

  • Organizing Applications in Applications Folder -- An Alternative Method

    I know that the general advice for those looking to organize their applications better has been to create a subfolder somewhere, copy the aliases for all the applications to that folder, organize as desired, and then drop that folder onto the Dock. This strikes me a bit un-Mac OS Xy.
    Well, I happened upon an alternative method that suits me much better. It is hinted at in another thread, but for the life of me I can't find it again. So here goes:
    I press Command+I on my applications in Finder, then
    Click Spotlight Comments, then
    Type in a category for the application.
    After I label all my applications,
    I create a Smart Folder with
    the search criteria based on the Spotlight comments I just entered.
    The Smart Folder appears in the left pane of the Finder window.
    I select the Smart Folder and see my organized applications.
    Voilà!
    I don't necessarily care about being able to select them straight from the Dock.

    Nice idea, but I'm a little unclear which metadata I should use in the Smart Folder search. I don't see an item that specifically looks in the Spotlight Comments. I tried using "Comment" but that doesn't seem to work.

  • 2 Application Folders

    I migrated all of the data from my school owned ibook (g4, 1.2 Ghz) to an ibook that I purchased and I currently have two application folders. One is located under the "Macintosh HD" tab on my sidebar, and the second is located under my "user" tab. The App folder under the user tab contains the "generic" applications from Apple (for the most part) - address book, safari, automator, utilities ect. Applications that I have added to my computer are listed under the Macintosh HD tab (whenever I download a program it seeks out and finds the Application folder under Macintosh HD.
    There is a subfolder for "user" which contains a Library folder.
    There is a subfolder listed under "Mac HD" which is labeled Library as well as one labeled System. Under that System folder is another folder labeled Library.
    My question is:
    Should I consolidate those Application folders and library folders? Are they taking up additional space? Would there be duplicate data in those library folders?
    Thanks in advance for the help.
    ibook g4   Mac OS X (10.4.7)  

    The applications in /Applications are the applications that are available to ALL users. The applications folder in your Home folder are applications that are available only to YOU.
    The Application folder in your (~)Home folder is not necessary. You can move any apps that are not duplicated in /Applications to that /Applications folder and do away with the ~/Applications folder. Just be sure you don't overwrite any newer apps with older ones.
    Also best to backup that ~/Applications folder before you start.
    EDIT: Don't touch the ~/Library folder. Or any other Library folder.
    -mj
    [email protected]
    Message was edited by: macjack

  • HT203167 Why do files that I have organized into folders not stay in their folders after closing and reopening iTunes? And Why does the renaming get undone? I do this in iTunes Media/ Music.

    Why do files that I have organized into folders not stay in their folders after closing and reopening iTunes? And Why does the renaming get undone? I do this in iTunes Media/ Music.

    I recently had to reinstall my software for a
    dell computer a dell latitude d 830, then after installing all of my software and such including itunes the player did well even record to disks with no problems now that my system has done alot of updating of system files....now the itunes does not burn to my cd...error message 2131 this time
    The 2131 usually indicates firmware needs to be updated on a drive.
    Head to your drivers and downloads page for your latitude at Dell, and check for updates to your firmware for your optical drives. If you're behind and you update, does that clear up the 2131?

  • Portlet content organized with folders

    I would like to create a portlet that is similar in functionality to the Favorites portlet. I was able to do this using content areas and URL items in 9.1, but am unable to figure it out using 10g.
    Here's what I would like to do:
    Create a portlet that contains URLs, organized within folders. I want the folders to open up inside the same portlet (instead of opening a new page).
    I have been trying page groups, pages, subpages, categories - but cannot achieve the results I am looking for. Any suggestions? Thanks! -- Rhonda

    hi rhonda,
    do you want to display something like the browser favorites ?
    if yes i suggest to use an HTML portlet. save your favorites as html file and display it as an iFrame in the HTML portlet. this ensures that if you clicke a link it is displayed in the same portlet area.
    if misunderstood your requirements it would be great if you could describe in more detail what you are trying to achieve.
    regards,
    christian

  • Why the duplicate Applications folders and which one(s) can I trash?

    I've tried to disregard the duplicate Applications folders on my HD and double Mail programs in my dock but would like to trash any I don't need (I'm the only user of my machine). I see that there's an Applications folder in my HD icon (under "Devices"); an Applications folder in my Finder window (under "Places"), and an Applications folder accessible by clicking on my name in the Finder window (also under "Places"). Although it appears there are 3 Applications folders / Mail programs, a search in Finder suggests there are actually 2: one is traceable to HD (hard disk); the other is traceable to my name. Which of these is "safe" to trash? (I don't understand why my Finder must contain two Applications folders--frequently resulting in the appearance of duplicate Mail programs in my dock. Any clarification/suggestions appreciated. Cap

    Thanks. That helps me with the concept, and I see that there can only be one "real" Applications folder which is under Devices and labeled Macintosh HD. Perhaps what I'm trying to say is that the below that, in the Places area, the programs in the "Applications" of my "Home Folder" (the little house followed by my name) don't agree with the programs in the "Applications" folder right underneath it. The latter Applications Folder agrees with the one on my Hard Drive, it has the new iTunes program, etc. whereas the programs in the Applications Folder of my Home Folder are different (the old iTunes program, etc.). I guess I'm saying that the Applications Folders of my Hard Drive and of my Home Folder are at odds. I'm simply going to try following your idea--drag the Applications Folder from my Home Folder onto the desktop, replace it with the Applications Folder from my Hard Drive, then go through the eternity of trashing the old Home Folder Applications Folder
    that will by now be copied on my Desktop. (Wish I new of a faster way of trashing the many programs.) I'll let you know if it works. Thanks again, Cap

  • I have several pdf files in my computer which are organized in folders. I want to transfer them to IBooks (in my Ipad) and keep the folder structure I use in my computer. Is it possible to do it? Do I need any other app?

    I have several pdf files in my computer which are organized in folders. I want to transfer them to IBooks (in my Ipad) and keep the folder structure I use in my computer. Is it possible to do it? Do I need any other app?

    By design, the organizer (and any other database management systems) is there to prevent you from duplicating your media files. The catalog management allows you to have the same image in different categories or albums. Duplication in different folders is to be absolutely avoided.
    The same image file can have multiple tags like 'family', 'vacations', 'birthdays' and be present in three different albums with the same names. On obvious advantage is less disk space. Another one with your present folder system is that if you edit one of your duplicates, the other ones are unchanged.
    I don't see an easy way to make your present folder structure simplified for the organizer ...

  • I have multiple application folders for some reason

    Hi,
         I have recently upgraded to lion, and i noticed i had duplicate applications.  When i looked on my search bar under the title 'applications' six different application folders were seen is this normal?

    I have the same problem - I've had it several times since I bought an iMac (27" solid state hard drive) in summer last year.I'm running Snow Leopard 10.6.8. At one point I had Application folders nested to four levels!
    These are NOT aliases - I only discovered the problem when my hard drive was running out of space!
    I have certainly not done anything to cause this to happen (I am a very experienced Mac user).
    Deleting the nested folders has had no ill effects (although I did have problems with emptying the Trash for a while).
    Not really a problem, except in that it might be symptomatic of something seriously wrong with the system.

  • Two Library and Application Folders

    I have two library and application folders. one is under my mac os x drive and the other is under my home folder. i was wondering if i can combine them so they are only under my home folder.
    peAce,
    Matt

    Leave the Library folders alone: they are there for a reason (items in the hard disk>Library folder are available to all users). However you can shift the items in the Applications folder in your Home directory to the main Applications folder on the hard disk - the only reason for having applications in your Home folder is to deny their use to another user. Don't do anything to the main Applications folder - apart from adding things to it - it's important that Apple programs such as iPhoto should reside in it.

  • Duplicate application folders

    When opening Apps folder, I find a duplicate of Apps and an Apps 2 folder. When I look in finder I find an endless string. Is there a reason for the duplication of folders? Id do a file search for an app name and only find 1 instance of it. Confused
    2011 MBP, OSX, single user

    Note that all the extra Applications folders are "aliases" (aka "shortcuts"), as signified by the little arrow on the icon.  How this happened, I cannot say.  But if this happened to me I would be comfortable deleting the aliases - the ones with the arrows - at the highest level of your real Applications folder.  That should take care of things.

  • Multiple application folders?

    In preparation for installing Lion I thought I should get rid of the multiple applications folders.  How do you do this?

    I have the same problem - I've had it several times since I bought an iMac (27" solid state hard drive) in summer last year.I'm running Snow Leopard 10.6.8. At one point I had Application folders nested to four levels!
    These are NOT aliases - I only discovered the problem when my hard drive was running out of space!
    I have certainly not done anything to cause this to happen (I am a very experienced Mac user).
    Deleting the nested folders has had no ill effects (although I did have problems with emptying the Trash for a while).
    Not really a problem, except in that it might be symptomatic of something seriously wrong with the system.

  • Combined application folders on Mountain Lion?

    Let me start this by saying I understand there are 2 Applications folders, only wish I had known that before. I tried to combine the two (how? don't know) and when I search for an application in spotlight, this is what happens.
    The blurred out part is my home folder (which is my name). There is a copy of the application in both a folder on Macintosh HD and my home folder. Today when I was cleaning up applications, I was deleting them through the Application folder on the Sidebar Finder, but searching for them in Spotlight reveals that they are still there, in the other folder.
    How exactly do I go about fixing this! Thank you!

    Just wanted to add — all of my applications will launch fine from either folder. But, they show up as different applications (and show the same data within).

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