There’s no shame in admitting that your PC’s downloads folder is in disarray. Mine was, and it had been for years. The last time it was in a state you could call orderly was right after I installed Windows 11 on my desktop PC. A few weeks later, it once again turned into a cluttered jungle filled with all kinds of files: documents, installers, ZIP archives, media, and everything else under the sun.

So I decided to finally clean it up and organize it, and I’ll share how I did it here so you can follow my example and turn your downloads folder from a cluttered mess into something you can actually navigate without having to spend a few minutes getting your bearings every time you open it.

What’s included?

Device encryption, find my device, firewall and network protection, internet protection, and more

Brand

Microsoft

Upgrading the operating system for your PC can be simple with Windows 11 Home; it offers a simple, fast, and intuitive interface for ease of use.

Step 1 – Sort the files by size and then delete the worst offenders

Free up some storage space

The first step is locating the largest files and deleting the ones you don’t need. To view files by size without them being grouped into multiple subgroups (0-9, A-H, and so on), right-click an empty space in Windows File Explorer, select “Group by”, and then click “(None).” The files and folders will no longer be divided into subgroups, making it easier to pinpoint the largest files.

Next, sort the files by size in descending order. The largest files in your downloads folder will now appear at the top, making it easy to delete them, move them, or keep them if they’re important. Also, make sure the “Details” layout is active, as it’s the best option when working with a large number of files.

After I did all that, I realized that the largest files in my downloads folder were mostly app installers, along with a few ZIP archives containing installers, and an FSR 4.1 DLL file. Together, the 29 largest files took up almost 3.5GB of space, which wasn’t that bad, all things considered. Since I didn’t need most of them, I deleted everything except the FSR 4.1 DLL because I still needed it for OptiScaler. You should also only keep the files you actually need.

Step 2 – Sort the files by type and purge the Downloads folder of unnecessary files

Then sort them by Date created or modified and remove those you haven’t touched in ages

Once you get rid of the files you don’t need that take up the most space, it’s time to delete all the other unnecessary files. I recommend sorting files by type first for easier navigation. This way, you can quickly locate smaller installers, for example, which usually go to the chopping block, at least on my PC, as well as PDFs, which I also tend to delete.

After sorting them by type, I discovered more installers, most of which I didn’t need, along with a bunch of PDFs I had no use for, a few downloaded images, a couple of ZIP archives, and a handful of other file types. Barely any survived the purge. I only kept one EXE file (a screensaver for OLED monitors I’m using), a text file containing my Epic Games Store MFA (multi-factor authentication) backup codes, the Rufus installer, and the FSR 4.1 ZIP archive, but I deleted the aforementioned FSR 4.1 INI file.

Before I started the purge, I had more than 90 files in my downloads folder. After I finished, I was left with only four. Not bad. If you’re still left with a bunch of files after deleting the unnecessary ones, sort them by “Date modified” or “Date created” and delete those you haven’t touched in a while.

Step 3 – Delete any subfolders in the Downloads folder that you don’t need

They can take up a lot of storage and make the clutter worse

Most of the files in my downloads folder were gone by this point, but I was still left with a bunch of subfolders. 21, to be exact, which together took up more than 20GB of storage space. After taking a quick look, I realized I didn’t need most of them because they contained save files, old Windows screensavers from an article I wrote months ago, more installers, and other files I no longer had any use for. So I deleted most of them right away.

I was left with eight subfolders afterward, and I needed every single one of them. For instance, the GTA IV Mods folder contained all the mods I use for GTA IV, which I’ll definitely replay sooner or later. The Steam Streaming Speaker Driver folder contained the files that fixed the audio issue I had when I first installed Sunshine and Moonlight to stream games from my desktop to my handheld PCs. The GitHub Store Downloads folder included files I’d downloaded from GitHub Store that I still needed, and so on.

Still, going from 21 to eight subfolders was a pretty solid result. Better yet, only the GTA IV Mods folder took up more than a few gigabytes, containing almost 17GB of data. Now it was time to reorganize the downloads folder.

Step 4 – Reorganize the downloads folder by creating subfolders for different file types

Avoid creating a file jungle again

Instead of mindlessly saving files to the downloads folder without giving it any thought, I wanted to create separate subfolders for different file types. That way, not only would my downloads folder be easier to navigate, but I’d also know where to look first for files to delete when it comes time to declutter the downloads folder again.

So I created subfolders for installers, PDFs, non-PDF documents, photos and videos, audio files, gaming-related files, and, of course, an “Other” folder for file types that didn’t fit into any of the other categories. I then moved the files and subfolders that survived the purge into their appropriate locations. I started with more than 90 files and almost 30 folders in my downloads folder and ended up with just eight subfolders covering most file types. I consider that a win.

You shouldn’t necessarily follow my example, but instead create subfolders that better suit your download habits. For instance, if you download a lot of Word documents instead of PDFs, you might want to create one subfolder just for Word documents and a second one for other document types. Or, if you’re constantly downloading wallpapers, create a Wallpapers subfolder.

Step 5 – Enable your browser’s “Ask where to save downloaded files” option

A must-do step

If you haven’t already, you should now activate the option in your browser that asks where you want to save downloaded files each time you download something, allowing you to put those newly created subfolders to good use.

If you’re using Firefox, go to Settings > General, scroll down to “Files and Applications,” and enable the “Always ask you where to save files” option. Chrome users should open Settings > Downloads and turn on “Ask where to save each file before downloading.”

You’ll now be able to save files to the appropriate folders instead of throwing everything into the main downloads folder until it once again becomes an unnavigable mess.

Step 6 (Optional) – Create a secondary downloads folder on another drive

I highly recommend doing this

What I also recommend is creating a secondary downloads folder on another drive or partition. I created one on my second SSD ages ago, where I save books and music I purchase, as well as video game mods (I moved that GTA IV Mods folder there, for instance).

I also created a LocalSend folder inside my secondary downloads folder so I can easily find files I send to my PC from my other computers and phone via LocalSend, which I do all the time.

OS

Windows, macOS, iPhone, iPad, Android

Brand

Microsoft

Microsoft 365 includes access to Office apps like Word, Excel, and PowerPoint on up to five devices, 1 TB of OneDrive storage, and more.

Decluttering your downloads folder is easier than you think

All in all, I needed less than an hour to clean up and organize my downloads folder. The hardest part of the whole process was finally biting the bullet and starting, but once the train started rolling, it was much easier and faster than I thought it would be.

That said, what made the process easier was the fact that I’d had a secondary downloads folder on my second SSD all that time, where I stored a bunch of files that would have otherwise ended up in the main downloads folder and made it harder to clean up and reorganize. So your mileage may vary, and you may need more time to declutter your own downloads folder.