Transcription
Are you frustrated by the file management situation on iPad? Are you trying to get real work done on the iPad, but you just keep running into frustrations with bugs? Or are you just struggling to get a real workflow going?
Hey everyone, Tech Dad here, and probably one of the biggest complaints that I get on this channel about iPad OS is the file management system. Now, I use my iPad Pro for my two jobs every day. So, by day, I'm a project manager and I have to do all the office type things for that position. So, it's very important that I have the ability to manage my files quickly and efficiently. And in the evening, I do a teaching job and I have lots of files going on there as well. And so, I have to organize my lesson plans and my presentations and my worksheets and all the things. So, file management is really important there, too.
Now, I don't really have any problems today, but it took me a while of using this device to learn the nuances and how this file management system thing should go. So in this video I want to give you a full guide on how to use the file management system on iPad, how to use the various apps, how to manage your cloud storage services. I want to talk about tags. I want to talk about iCloud drive, one drive, Google drive, all the drives. And we'll also talk about external storage and managing files on external hard drives and thumb drives.
Now one other thing before we begin talking about file management, you have to have a good setup for the iPad. So, make sure you have a good keyboard, a good mouse or trackpad, maybe a second display, and also a port hub if you're dealing with multiple external stoages. All right, let's get into it.
So, on the iPad, there are lots of ways to get to your files and access them. And I think that causes a lot of confusion for a lot of people. So, there's the files app, but then you can also download apps like the Google Drive app or the Microsoft One Drive app, or you can access files through the browser. And so which is the best way to get to your files and manage them? Well, in my opinion, 95% of the time you should be using the files app to manage all of your files, no matter where they're located, whether they are local on the iPad or if they're in a cloud service or something like that. There are a couple instances where I'll tell you not to use the files app. We're going to get to that later, but most of the time use the Files app and make sure that the Files app is on your dock because if it's not on the dock of your iPads, you can't multitask with it. You won't be able to open multiple windows very easily. So, make sure the Files app is on your dock.
So, first let's talk about the tools that you have available on the top right corner of the Files app. So, you have the ability to see the files the way you want. You can see them in icon view, you can see them as a list, or you can see them in a column view. My old supervisor used to love looking at files this way. He liked to be able to drill down deep into the files by using columns. You can also organize the files by name, date, kind. This is all very similar to a Mac. So, organize your files in a way where you can see what you need to see.
Now, let's talk about a couple of options. If you write click a file or folder, so first of all, you can favorite a folder. And this is really nice. It will make a folder that you use often appear in the sidebar. So, if you find yourself going to a specific folder all the time, make it a favorite. Now, a step up from that is tags. And this is where you can start to color code files and folders. So, you can assign a color, assign a name to your tag, and all your tag collections also appear in the sidebar. I love this. I can quickly organize my adult ed material, my tech dad stuff, and my first job project management stuff. And I can access things really quickly this way. And so, next, let's talk about the sidebar. The sidebar is extremely important. You can access everything you need to from your sidebar. In addition to tags and favorites, you can also access your cloud stoages. Now, your cloud stoages won't appear unless you download the apps first. So, if you have Dropbox, you need to download the Dropbox app, or you won't have it as an option to put on your sidebar. Now, to edit your sidebar, you can hit the top three dots, and this will allow you to rearrange what you have on your sidebar. It'll allow you to toggle on or off the various cloud storage apps that you have. And it can allow you to remove things like favorites or tags that you don't want. So, take advantage of the sidebar and organize it in a way that's useful for you.
Okay, let's talk about dragging and dropping files, selecting files. So, remember how I told you you need to have the files app on your doc? That's very important. So, you can drag and drop. So, you can open multiple instances of the files app and start moving files around very easily, just like you would on a Mac. You can even drag and drop from the web browser. So, let's say I have a photo on the Safari browser that I want to drag and drop and keep. I can just open up Safari next to the files app and drag and drop my file in. It's really nice.
Now, you can also select multiple files by using the select option up at the top right corner. Once you hit select, you can click the files that you want, or you can use the shift key on your keyboard and hold the shift key down, select a top file, and go down your list and select the bottom file, and you'll grab all the files at once. This is great for when I need to drag over like a 100 videos to an external hard drive. It's quick and easy, painless.
Now, external storage is really easy to manage as well. You can just plug in your external storage device, like a thumb drive, and it will appear in the sidebar. And you can open multiple instances of the files app. So if you connect multiple external drives, you can easily drag and drop your files as needed.
Now the last thing I want to mention about the basics is storing files locally on your iPad. And I just want to clear up some confusion. So when you click on that, you'll see a bunch of app folders and it used to be in the old days there was no file management system on iPad or iPhone and all of the files were managed inside of apps and you couldn't really see that cuz there was no file management system to show you that. Well, it's still the case. You can still manage files within apps. And when you click on my iPad, you'll see all your apps that have folders that can actually store files. You can't delete these folders or move them around. If you want those gone, you have to delete the app itself. But that's why those are there. And you can store files in there if you want.
All right, let's talk about some cloud storage solutions. And the first one I want to talk about is iCloud Drive. And this one tends to play the best with iPad. Big surprise, right? So, you get a small amount of cloud storage free with iCloud. But if you want an actual usable amount, you need to get a subscription. And iCloud storage is particularly useful because you can do things like automatically back up your iPad, which is really nice. I actually have the Family Share plan, so I back up all my kids' phones on iCloud Drive. And iCloud is also unique because it stores all your photos and videos in the cloud if you want it to, and that saves a lot of storage space on your device.
So, here I have my iPad Air, the M3 version. Just got this. And this is the 128 gabte model. So very little storage on this device. Well, iCloud lets you do something cool where it will store your files for you. But if you don't use a file for a while, it will store it in the cloud. It will actually take it off your device, but it still looks like it's there and you can access it locally. And I'm showing you that here in the columns view. So, I've got a whole bunch of videos that are obviously huge files, and I don't want them to fill up my little 128 gig hard drive here on my iPad Air. So, iCloud is great because it will offload those files, but still give you quick access to them when you need them. And you have the option to right-click them and download them or keep them always downloaded if it's something you think you're going to need, especially if you're working somewhere without Wi-Fi. That is huge, especially when people buy iPads and they don't have a lot of storage. You don't want them filling up with a bunch of photos, videos, or files that you're storing because you just don't have the storage space. All right, that's the big tip. I think that one is really important. And so, I really think an iCloud plan is a good way to go. And no, Apple is not paying me to say that. I just think it's a good thing to have.
All right, finally, let's talk about other cloud storage solutions and how you can manage those because obviously when people are trying to do real work, they need to access Microsoft One Drive, they need to access Google Drive. Those are the big players in productivity. So, like I said, you can access those cloud stoages on your sidebar. You just need to make sure that you have the appropriate app downloaded from the app store, but I don't recommend using those apps in most cases. I don't even put them on my home screen.
Now, probably the buggiest one that I've had is Microsoft One Drive. When I try to use that in the sidebar and drag and drop files, I do get errors quite a bit. Recently, I haven't. So, I don't know if they've patched it or improved the app or just gotten rid of the bugs, but in the past it's very buggy and I actually don't use the files app to manage my one drive files. I actually use the actual one drive app. And so, if you're having issues managing your one drive files from the files app, just stop using the files app. Use the one drive app. Now, you will note that you can't open multiple instances of the one drive app currently, which means there's not going to be really any dragging and dropping. you're just going to have to move things around by clicking and selecting from menu options. But again, I use Microsoft in my first job all the time and I've just learned to use the One Drive app and I can access my files quickly and easily work with my team members. It's pretty smooth.
Now, the second buggiest drive is Google Drive, which is really annoying, right? Because that's also another big player in productivity. So, I tend not to use the files app with Google Drive. I actually like to manage my files in Google Drive through the Safari browser and only the Safari browser. The other browsers on iPad are awful and load like a mobile version. Don't use other browsers. Use Safari. But I think that's how Google intended their files to be managed. They want everything to be done inside of a browser, even if you're working on a computer. And you can drag and drop and move files within the Safari browser with Google Drive. So, I like Google Drive in the browser. I think it gives a computer-like experience that's just better. and the Google apps for iPad are just awful. Just stick to the browser.
All right, so that's my complete guide on how I use files and manage all my files on the iPad. I use it for everyday real work. I know you can, too. I hope this guide was helpful. Let me know if there were some other tips that you'd like to see in the comments below. I'll look through those. That's all I got for you. If you like this sort of content, please like and subscribe.