Most people know so little about organizing their files that they only use desktop or downloads folder. But for people who have lots of files and organize really well, alias is kind of like a dirty trick to give you some ease of access if you have very deep folders.
Great tutorial. I have a question. When you create an alias to a folder are each of the documents in that alias folder also alias's. I have practiced testing this and it looks like when an I open a file within an alias folder and made changes to the document in the alias folder it did also change the file in the original folder. It looks like I may have answered my own question. I wanted to be sure there was nothing I was missing. I have been using a Mac for quite some time and still have much to learn. Thank you for your great tutorials. I am getting so much more from my Mac now that I have been following your videos.
With an alias of a folder I always get a sense of unease about the inconsistency seen from a realistic point of view: you can safely delete the alias folder and the original folder with all of its content is kept, but when you open the alias folder the files in that folder aren't alias files, so when you delete them they are deleted from the original folder as well. This always kinda bothers me, so I never make use of an alias folder, even though it can be very convenient. In the 'real' world you can access an item only one way, where you have put it, there is no alias closet from where I can conveniently open my jar of peanut butter and take a slice of bread. (Or an alias jar of peanut butter that I can open on my way home. But an alias of a file doesn't bother me)
i love your content, i have a question, i deleted my download,document and desktop user folders. how can i possibly create new folders in the directory and link it to work like normal.
You did? You can't delete the Desktop folder. Not sure what you have going on. Perhaps you are using iCloud Drive and aren't looking in the right place?
I searched for: Mac alias ... and was glad you were at the top. However, it seems I might be looking for something different. I am organizing my video collection (all mine or with licenses OK with sharing), and I want to make a folder of a subset of those videos that I want to share with friends via YSB drives. Can I create a folder named "Mike share USB 2", put aliases in that folder to a few dozen videos, and then somehow copy that folder onto a USB drive and thereby copy the source videos to that USB drive? If not, is there another way to do this - short of manually adding text files teliing the names of the files I want to share? The first time I did this, I just copied all the files into that folder and then copied that onto the USB drive, but I end up with duplicates on my drive. I want to easily see what I've shared with whom and be able to easily share with another friend as well.
No, you can't use Aliases that way. Instead, I would tag all of those files with something like "USB Share" or whatever you want to name the tag. Then when you want to copy the files to the USB drive, just view that Tag in the Finder and you can drag and drop them all onto the drive. ua-cam.com/video/8z5jPlloH0E/v-deo.html
I like the More Apps and single folder in the sidebar strategy. Even though I knew all of the topics, shortcuts and the like, the strategies really caught my attention. Thank you Gary!
Not sure what you mean. The files are still using the same amount of storage space as before, they are just in a different folder. The aliases use only a tiny bit of storage. None of this has anything to do with "memory" (RAM) though.
@@macmost Long ago I read that files and folders take up more memory if they are on the DESKTOP than if they are located in DOCUMENTS or elsewhere. I had no way to check it out, and apparently you never heard of it.
@@arthurmilholland6852 That's something from long ago. That when an file was on the Desktop it would have to generate the little icon preview all the time and it would use a tiny bit more processor and memory. Not really an issue as today's Macs are far more powerful than that. The better case for not having files on your Desktop is for neatness, organization and minimizing visual distraction. I recommend putting everything in your Documents folder if possible.
Not sure what you mean. Do you mean a regular folder filled with aliases to other things? Then there is no "original folder" just the folder you created.
@@macmost you create an alias from a folder (folder A) and you have the alias on your desktop. If you add something into the alias folder will it automatically show in Folder A
I am running 5 os from one external hard drive and was wondering if I make an alias and transfer that via another external drive to one of the other os and the add info to the alias file, will it show back in the original location?
@@macmost Copies anything you add back to folder on storage hard drive which is accessible from any of the operating systems. I have High Sierra, Mojave,Catalina, Monterey and now Ventura. Interesting to compare them and the changes that have occurred over time.
Not sure how "New Original File" in the info., or Insp. is used. Seems like a Folder Action w/o using Automator, which is handy. But, once that button is hit it turns the alias in to a portal of sorts losing access to the alias file/folder. Soooo, what's going on? Folder action, or something else?
Your videos are terrific for us “non-techies”, thank you for all!
Most people know so little about organizing their files that they only use desktop or downloads folder. But for people who have lots of files and organize really well, alias is kind of like a dirty trick to give you some ease of access if you have very deep folders.
Very cool. I'm going to assume that since this is just making a link to the original, that it doesn't use any additional hard drive space?
YOU are So good! Love your channel, thank YOU for all your time,effort, superb tuition! Greetings from Scotland!
Great tutorial. I have a question. When you create an alias to a folder are each of the documents in that alias folder also alias's. I have practiced testing this and it looks like when an I open a file within an alias folder and made changes to the document in the alias folder it did also change the file in the original folder. It looks like I may have answered my own question. I wanted to be sure there was nothing I was missing. I have been using a Mac for quite some time and still have much to learn. Thank you for your great tutorials. I am getting so much more from my Mac now that I have been following your videos.
With an alias of a folder I always get a sense of unease about the inconsistency seen from a realistic point of view: you can safely delete the alias folder and the original folder with all of its content is kept, but when you open the alias folder the files in that folder aren't alias files, so when you delete them they are deleted from the original folder as well. This always kinda bothers me, so I never make use of an alias folder, even though it can be very convenient. In the 'real' world you can access an item only one way, where you have put it, there is no alias closet from where I can conveniently open my jar of peanut butter and take a slice of bread. (Or an alias jar of peanut butter that I can open on my way home. But an alias of a file doesn't bother me)
Hi Gary,
Your explanation is just exceptionally great! Very great job. I use soft links (alias) a lot. So handy.
Lot’s of greetings, Dennis 🇳🇱
if I create an alias for a 10GB file, will it consume an extra 10GB of space; or it's just a reference to the same file?
TPS reports lol
i love your content, i have a question, i deleted my download,document and desktop user folders. how can i possibly create new folders in the directory and link it to work like normal.
You did? You can't delete the Desktop folder. Not sure what you have going on. Perhaps you are using iCloud Drive and aren't looking in the right place?
My aliases no longer show the image of the file, just jpg. How can I fix this??
Not sure that it works that way anymore.
I searched for: Mac alias ... and was glad you were at the top. However, it seems I might be looking for something different.
I am organizing my video collection (all mine or with licenses OK with sharing), and I want to make a folder of a subset of those videos that I want to share with friends via YSB drives. Can I create a folder named "Mike share USB 2", put aliases in that folder to a few dozen videos, and then somehow copy that folder onto a USB drive and thereby copy the source videos to that USB drive? If not, is there another way to do this - short of manually adding text files teliing the names of the files I want to share?
The first time I did this, I just copied all the files into that folder and then copied that onto the USB drive, but I end up with duplicates on my drive. I want to easily see what I've shared with whom and be able to easily share with another friend as well.
No, you can't use Aliases that way. Instead, I would tag all of those files with something like "USB Share" or whatever you want to name the tag. Then when you want to copy the files to the USB drive, just view that Tag in the Finder and you can drag and drop them all onto the drive. ua-cam.com/video/8z5jPlloH0E/v-deo.html
@@macmost Great solution to my problem, and finally a use for tags! Thank you! I'll watch the linked video too.
Thank you for your videos. Very informative.
Is it possible to share Contacts with different logins on the same iMac?
Gary @ macmost just taught me the or function in numbers. I’m gonna buy him a coffee & donut 🙇♂️
I like the More Apps and single folder in the sidebar strategy. Even though I knew all of the topics, shortcuts and the like, the strategies really caught my attention. Thank you Gary!
Excellent tutorials, thank you! This one is simply superb! Very informative and helpful. 😌
Most helpful for one coming from MS. Thanks! Helps out with the Linux experiment also.
Super Handy. I was getting tired of reaching into layers and layers of files structures for each work client.
Gary. another excellent and useful tip! Thanks !
Very cool! Why have I not always been using this feature lol
Thanks
The "drop zones" tip is extremely useful!
What a game changer! Thank you so much. 👏👏👏
If files are taken off desktop and replace with aliases, do they then take up less room in storage memory?
Not sure what you mean. The files are still using the same amount of storage space as before, they are just in a different folder. The aliases use only a tiny bit of storage. None of this has anything to do with "memory" (RAM) though.
@@macmost Long ago I read that files and folders take up more memory if they are on the DESKTOP than if they are located in DOCUMENTS or elsewhere. I had no way to check it out, and apparently you never heard of it.
@@arthurmilholland6852 That's something from long ago. That when an file was on the Desktop it would have to generate the little icon preview all the time and it would use a tiny bit more processor and memory. Not really an issue as today's Macs are far more powerful than that. The better case for not having files on your Desktop is for neatness, organization and minimizing visual distraction. I recommend putting everything in your Documents folder if possible.
If you add something to the alias folder does it automatically appear in the original folder when connected?
Not sure what you mean. Do you mean a regular folder filled with aliases to other things? Then there is no "original folder" just the folder you created.
@@macmost you create an alias from a folder (folder A) and you have the alias on your desktop. If you add something into the alias folder will it automatically show in Folder A
I am running 5 os from one external hard drive and was wondering if I make an alias and transfer that via another external drive to one of the other os and the add info to the alias file, will it show back in the original location?
@@rhettshipley4593 I don't think so. But try it and see.
@@macmost Copies anything you add back to folder on storage hard drive which is accessible from any of the operating systems. I have High Sierra, Mojave,Catalina, Monterey and now Ventura. Interesting to compare them and the changes that have occurred over time.
Excellent video full of useful tips
Very handy. Thanks, Gary!
Amazing!!! 👍👍👍
Great to know
Wow
first
Not sure how "New Original File" in the info., or Insp. is used. Seems like a Folder Action w/o using Automator, which is handy. But, once that button is hit it turns the alias in to a portal of sorts losing access to the alias file/folder. Soooo, what's going on? Folder action, or something else?