Deadlines are fun! They keep us on our toes. But what happens when you can’t find a piece of work you did a few years ago, that would save you a whole load of time - but you just can’t find it, buried amongst old folders and files in your Mac?! Instead of saving you time, you look everywhere and have to give up.
Work Folders is not available for Mac but there are plenty of alternatives that runs on macOS with similar functionality. The most popular Mac alternative is Syncthing, which is both free and Open Source. If that doesn't suit you, our users have ranked 15 alternatives to Work Folders and 14 are available for Mac so hopefully you can find a suitable replacement. Upload files from your PC or Mac. Share files with others. Give others permission to edit files and work on them at the same time. Get to your files from anywhere, on your computer, tablet, or phone. Sync OneDrive to your PC or Mac, so you can access your files even when you're offline. Share OneDrive files and folders. See full list on docs.microsoft.com.
Upload files from your PC or Mac. Share files with others. Give others permission to edit files and work on them at the same time. Get to your files from anywhere, on your computer, tablet, or phone. Sync OneDrive to your PC or Mac, so you can access your files even when you're offline.
Best practices for organizing files on your Mac
We so often throw everything into separate locations and pray they can find it when needed, taking a hit-and-hope approach. That method has never worked for the New York Yankees, so it’s likely to leave you striking out too. If only there were a way to arrange folders and find files faster. An efficient, proven system to avoid all the wasted time, stress and extra effort. Thankfully, Setapp has a solution or two. We have an array of ready to install organizational apps to make life that little bit easier.
Let’s start with some simple rules for managing your files and folders:
- Clutter control: don’t put files on the desktop. Your desktop is supposed to be clean and display that amazing HD wallpaper you’ve got going on.
- Find files faster: name your files and folders strategically.
- Shortcuts to your project resources in one place to access them quickly. It solving the annoying part of switching between projects.
- Tagging. Instead of—or in addition to—folder structures, try tagging files. The benefit of tagging is the ability to add multiple tags to a file. Without a strong folder structure, tags are all that’s keeping your files from getting lost in chaos.
Apps to find files faster
The Setapp collection of apps brings order to your Mac. Get the tools to seamlessly organize folders and files.
Clutter control: clean up desktop
Gather all the files and folders you want to keep on the desktop and put them in a folder or two for temporary storage if you’re referring to it regularly. If you want to make sure to keep your desktop clear, check out our Spotless tutorial. There is a rule to automatically clean off your desktop.
With smart algorithms such as the Autotidy feature, users can input ‘tasks’ which specify where particular files belong with an easy-to-use drag and drop system. The app will store your instructions and automate the process by scheduling folders to be organized at regular intervals.
There’s no limit to the number of automated tasks you can create, making for a spotless Mac. Users can teach the app to organize their images, desktop or individual documents, using a range of different parameters, e.g. filename, extension, file size, modified date etc. This gives users full scope to organize and locate files efficiently, without having to do the dirty work.
Putting your important documents and folders in the hands of an AI robot may be daunting, but Spotless is heavily regulated to minimize possible risks. Before submitting a new task, users receive a full preview of changes to consolidate understanding and ensure no errors are made, as well as having comprehensive and configurable conflict resolution rules to safeguard your files. With a fully editable dashboard, users can search engagement history to track what actions Spotless has undertaken and have the power to restore files or undo any unwanted changes.
Spotless is reminiscent of the swan analogy – your Mac is the swan, gliding smoothly on top of the water with ease. Spotless is the legs, powering away beneath the surface, laying the foundations for your relaxed drift up-stream. Sounds lovely, doesn’t it?
Find files faster
Keep in mind that you can search for files using folder names - the more specific, the more quickly you’ll find what you’re looking for. Think about saving an invoice. Do you think invoice1.pdf is a good name? Probably not. July invoice.pdf is not any better. So when you’re naming that invoice, think about how you might look for it. Probably:
- By date (I want the July 2018 invoice)
- By company (I want the ABCom invoice)
- By type of document (I want a invoice)
So a good name would allow you to look at the files in a folder and right away see what each file is without opening it. It would give you things you can use to search. So a good file name, in this case, could be 2017-07 ABCom invoice.pdf
The same concept applies to folders. Setapp has a good bulk renaming app which perfect for any kind of file renaming including music and photo files.
The same concept applies to folders. Setapp has a good bulk renaming app which perfect for any kind of file renaming including music and photo files.
Project shortcuts
The next step is to use workspaces to manage multitasking.
The nature of the macOS system doesn’t particularly lend itself to multitasking. Having to jump between the countless browser tabs open alongside your documents and any impending emails isn’t ideal, especially when you have a long to-do list. The fact that Workspaces allows users to add any resource to the workspace, along with handy widgets like a bookmark bar, makes it easy to work on web-focused projects and to handle online information simultaneously. With a fully customizable platform, Workspaces is built to evolve along with your tasks. If projects are surplus to requirements, the archiving feature stores all your old workspaces into one easily-accessible document, which can be made visible again at any time. Furthermore, adding new resources couldn’t be easier, with a one-click system inherent on encouraging efficient, fluid productivity.
Workspaces is a simple Mac organizer, facilitating and simplifying the art of multitasking. Through a designated ‘workspace’, you can access all relevant resources needed for the task in hand – web pages, emails, documents and more. By saving all the relevant documents to your workspace, you’ll eradicate all that wasted time hunting for files and, with the inbuilt task list, you’ll be able to switch exercises with ease.
What about pics organizing?
We can all appreciate the perils involved in keeping your images organized. From those videos of unforgettable nights-out to the endless array of selfies, the camera roll can be a mighty mess. For so many of us, photo hoarders who love collecting and storing photos, keeping them arranged is a near enough impossible task. Or was.
Picture this, an app that helps you manage your entire gallery, accessible at your fingertips, without the need to delete any images. Using a powerful photo manager, Emulsion effortlessly arranges your images in a well-structured, consistent and beautiful way. The Live Folder feature allows images to remain in their primary location, while simultaneously storing them with automatic syncing.
Furthermore, the app utilizes macOS features seamlessly. By placing all images together in one easy to access panel, users can sort pictures by metadata, tags and notes, complete with full-screen options, quick look and gestures. Through tagging, Emulsion can sort images by people, locations, time and even colors, demonstrating the impressive AI behind the app.
How to use tags to organize files in macOS
Alongside the apps to keep your things organized and easy to find, Mac has its own tagging feature that lets you color code files and folders. You can use this to group your items so that you’re not scrolling through endless lists.
Tags work for files and folders stored on your Mac or iCloud account and are easy to add.
How to tag files and folders in macOS?
To tag an open file, hold the pointer to the right of the title and click on the arrow, followed by the Tags field. Choose a tag from the list, or enter a new tag.
To tag a file in the Finder or on your Mac desktop, select the item that you want to tag, open the File menu and choose a color. If you want to choose a different tag or enter a new tag, click on Tags for additional options.
To tag a newly created file as you save it, click on File > Save and select the Tags field in the Save dialog. Enter a new tag or select one from the list.
Items can also be tagged from a Finder window by selecting a file or folder and clicking on the Tags button.
How to find tagged items in macOS?
Once you’ve tagged your items you can easily find them by opening up a Finder window.
From the finder window, enter the tag name or color in the search field and locate your file from the list. Alternatively, you can ask Siri to find the file for you by asking it to, “Find files with a blue tag” or something similar.
To see every file with a particular tag, you can click on the tag color in the Finder sidebar. You can also choose which tags you want to see located in the sidebar by going to Finder > Preferences and choosing the appropriate tags.
To sort items by their tag, go to View > Show View Options and click the checkbox next to Tags. Click the Tags column in List view and the files will be arranged for simple viewing. Click on the column name again to revert the order back to how it was.
How to edit tags in macOS?
To edit a tag that you’ve already created, go to Finder > Preferences > Tags.
From here you’ll be able to change the color by clicking on the color button and selecting a new option and change the name by clicking on the tag’s name.
To add a new tag, click on the + button.
How to remove a tag in macOS?
If you want to remove a tag from an item, all you need to do is Control-click the item, click Tags, select the tags that you want to remove, and hit Delete.
Removing a tag from your Mac is equally straightforward. Go to Finder > Preferences > Tags, select the tags that you want to remove and click on the - button.
Gone are the days of folder hunting and head scratching. With Setapp subscription, you can get these apps plus a whole host of others, bringing an end to the constant categorizing confusion. Start your free trial with Setapp today and discover a world of app innovation.
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-->Applies to: Windows Server (Semi-Annual Channel), Windows Server 2016, Windows Server 2012 R2, Windows 10, Windows 8.1, Windows 7
This topic explains the design process for a Work Folders implementation, and assumes that you have the following background:
- Have a basic understanding of Work Folders (as described in Work Folders)
- Have a basic understanding of Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS) concepts
- Have a basic understanding of Windows file sharing and related technologies
- Have a basic understanding of SSL certificate usage
- Have a basic understanding of enabling web access to internal resources via a web reverse proxyThe following sections will help you design your Work Folders implementation. Deploying Work Folders is discussed in the next topic, Deploying Work Folders.
Software requirements
![Mac Mac](/uploads/1/1/9/7/119755103/375209178.png)
Work Folders has the following software requirements for file servers and your network infrastructure:
- A server running Windows Server 2012 R2 or Windows Server 2016 for hosting sync shares with user files
- A volume formatted with the NTFS file system for storing user files
- To enforce password policies on Windows 7 PCs, you must use Group Policy password policies. You also have to exclude the Windows 7 PCs from Work Folders password policies (if you use them).
- A server certificate for each file server that will host Work Folders. These certificates should be from a certification authority (CA) that is trusted by your users—ideally a public CA.
- (Optional) An Active Directory Domain Services forest with schema extensions in Windows Server 2012 R2 to support automatically referring PCs and devices to the correct file server when using multiple file servers.
To enable users to sync across the Internet, there are additional requirements:
- The ability to make a server accessible from the Internet by creating publishing rules in your organization's reverse proxy or network gateway
- (Optional) A publicly registered domain name and the ability to create additional public DNS records for the domain
- (Optional) Active Directory Federation Services (AD FS) infrastructure when using AD FS authentication
Work Folders has the following software requirements for client computers:
- Computers must be running one of the following operating systems:
- Windows 10
- Windows 8.1
- Windows RT 8.1
- Windows 7
- Android 4.4 KitKat and later
- iOS 10.2 and later
- Windows 7 PCs must be running one of the following editions of Windows:
- Windows 7 Professional
- Windows 7 Ultimate
- Windows 7 Enterprise
- Windows 7 PCs must be joined to your organization's domain (they can't be joined to a workgroup).
- Enough free space on a local, NTFS-formatted drive to store all the user's files in Work Folders, plus an additional 6 GB of free space if Work Folders is located on the system drive, as it is by default. Work Folders uses the following location by default: %USERPROFILE%Work FoldersHowever, users can change the location during setup (microSD cards and USB drives formatted with the NTFS file system are supported locations, though sync will stop if the drives are removed).The maximum size for individual files is 10 GB by default. There is no per-user storage limit, although administrators can use the quotas functionality of File Server Resource Manager to implement quotas.
- Work Folders doesn't support rolling back the virtual machine state of client virtual machines. Instead perform backup and restore operations from inside the client virtual machine by using System Image Backup or another backup app.
Note
Make sure to install the Windows 8.1 and Windows Server 2012 R2 General Availability update rollup on all Work Folders servers and any client computers running Windows 8.1 or Windows Server 2012 R2. For more information, see article 2883200 in the Microsoft Knowledge Base.
Deployment scenarios
Work Folders can be implemented on any number of file servers within a customer environment. This allows Work Folders implementations to scale based on customer needs and can result in highly individualized deployments. However, most deployments will fall into one of the following three basic scenarios.
Single-Site Deployment
In a single-site deployment, file servers are hosted within a central site in the customer infrastructure. This deployment type is seen most often in customers with a highly centralized infrastructure or with smaller branch offices that do not maintain local file servers. This deployment model can be easier for IT staff to administer, since all server assets are local, and internet ingress/egress is likely centralized at this location as well. However, this deployment model also relies on good WAN connectivity between the central site and any branch offices, and users in branch offices are vulnerable to an interruption of service due to network conditions.
Multiple-Site Deployment
In a multiple-site deployment, file servers are hosted in multiple locations within the customer's infrastructure. This could mean multiple datacenters or it could mean that branch offices maintain individual file servers. This deployment type is seen most often in larger customer environments or in customers that have several larger branch offices that maintain local server assets. This deployment model is more complex for IT personnel to administer, and relies on careful coordination of data storage and maintenance of Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS) to ensure that users are using the correct sync server for Work Folders.
Hosted Deployment
In a hosted deployment, sync servers are deployed in an IAAS (Infrastructure-as-a-Service) solution such as Windows Azure VM. This deployment method has the advantage of making the availability of file servers less dependent on WAN connectivity within a customer's business. If a device is able to connect to the Internet, it can get to its sync server. However, the servers deployed in the hosted environment still need to be able to reach the organization's Active Directory domain to authenticate users, and the customer trades infrastructure requirements on-premises for additional complexity in maintaining that connection.
Deployment technologies
Work Folders deployments consist of a number of technologies that work together to provide service to devices on both the internal and external networks. Before designing a Work Folders deployment, customers should be familiar with the requirements of each of the following technologies.
Active Directory Domain Services
AD DS provides two important services in a Work Folders deployment. First, as the back-end for Windows authentication, AD DS provides the security and authentication services that are used to grant access to user data. If a domain controller cannot be reached, a file server will be unable to authenticate an incoming request and the device will not be able to access any data stored in that file server's sync share.
Second, AD DS (with the Windows Server 2012 R2 schema update) maintains the msDS-SyncServerURL attribute on each user, which is used to automatically direct users to the appropriate sync server.
File Servers
File servers running Windows Server 2012 R2 or Windows Server 2016 host the Work Folders role service, and host the sync shares that store users' Work Folders data. File servers can also host data stored by other technologies operating on the internal network (such as file shares), and can be clustered to provide fault tolerance for user data.
Group Policy
If you have Windows 7 PCs in your environment, we recommend the following:
- Use Group Policy to control password policies for all domain-joined PCs that use Work Folders.
- Use the Work Folders Automatically lock screen, and require a password policy on PCs that aren't joined to your domain.You can also use Group Policy to specify a Work Folders server to domain-joined PCs. This simplifies Work Folders setup a little bit– users would otherwise need to enter their work email address to lookup the settings (assuming that Work Folders is set up properly), or enter the Work Folders URL that you explicitly provided them via email or another means of communication.You can also use Group Policy to forcibly set up Work Folders on a per-user or per-computer basis, though doing so causes Work Folders to sync on every PC a user signs in to (when using the per-user policy setting), and prevents users from specifying an alternate location for Work Folders on their PC (such as on a microSD card to conserve space on the primary drive). We suggest carefully evaluating your user's needs before forcing automatic setup.
Windows Intune
Windows Intune also provides a layer of security and manageability for non-domain-joined devices that would not otherwise be present. You can use Windows Intune to configure and manage users' personal devices such as tablets that connect to Work Folders from across the Internet. Windows Intune can provide devices with the sync server URL to use – otherwise users must enter their work email address to lookup the settings (if you publish a public Work Folders URL in the form of https://workfolders.contoso.com), or enter the sync server URL directly.
Without a Windows Intune deployment, users must configure external devices manually, which can result in increased demands on a customer's help desk staff.
You can also use Windows Intune to selectively wipe the data from Work Folders on a user's device without affecting the rest of their data – handy for if a user leaves your organization or has their device stolen.
Web Application Proxy/Azure AD Application Proxy
Work Folders is built around the concept of allowing Internet-connected devices to retrieve business data securely from the internal network, which allows users to 'take their data with them' on their tablets and devices that would not normally be able to access work files. To do this, a reverse proxy must be used to publish sync server URLs and make them available to Internet clients.
Work Folders supports using Web Application Proxy, Azure AD Application Proxy or 3rd party reverse proxy solutions:
- Web Application Proxy is an on-premises reverse proxy solution. To learn more, see Web Application Proxy in Windows Server 2016.
- Azure AD Application Proxy is a cloud reverse proxy solution. To learn more, see How to provide secure remote access to on-premises applications
Additional design considerations
In addition to understanding each of the components noted above, customers need to spend time in their design thinking about the number of sync servers and shares to operate, and whether or not to leverage failover clustering to provide fault tolerance on those sync servers
Number of Sync Servers
It is possible for a customer to operate multiple sync servers in an environment. This can be a desirable configuration for several reasons:
- Geographic distribution of users – for example, branch office files servers or regional datacenters
- Data storage requirements – certain business departments might have specific data storage or handling requirements that are easier with a dedicated server
- Load balancing – in large environments, storing user data on multiple servers can increase server performance and uptime.For information on Work Folders server scaling and performance, see Performance Considerations for Work Folders Deployments.
Note
When using multiple sync servers, we recommend setting up automatic server discovery for users. This process relies upon the configuration of an attribute on each user account in AD DS. The attribute is named msDS-SyncServerURL and becomes available on user accounts after a Windows Server 2012 R2 domain controller is added to the domain or the Active Directory schema updates are applied. This attribute should be set for each user to ensure that users connect to the appropriate sync server. By using automatic server discovery, organizations can publish Work Folders behind a 'friendly' URL such as https://workfolders.contoso.com, regardless of the number of sync servers in operation.
Number of Sync Shares
Individual sync servers can maintain multiple sync shares. This can be useful for the following reasons:
- Auditing and security requirements – If data used by a certain department must be more heavily audited or retained for a longer period of time, separate sync shares can help administrators keep user folders with differing audit levels separated.
- Differing quotas or file screens – If you want to set different storage quotas or limits on which file types are allowed in Work Folders (file screens) for different groups of users, separate sync shares can help.
- Departmental control – If administrative duties are distributed by department, utilizing separate shares for different departments can aid administrators in enforcing quotas or other policies.
- Differing device policies –If an organization needs to maintain multiple device policies (such as encrypting Work Folders) for different groups of users, using multiple shares enables this.
- Storage capacity –If a file server has multiple volumes, additional shares can be used to take advantage of these additional volumes. An individual share has access to only the volume that it is hosted on, and is unable to take advantage of additional volumes on a file server.
Access to Sync Shares
While the sync server that a user accesses is determined by the URL entered at their client (or the URL published for that user in AD DS when using server automatic discovery), access to individual sync shares is determined by the permissions present on the share.
As a result, if a customer is hosting multiple sync shares on the same server, care must be taken to ensure that individual users have permissions to access only one of those shares. Otherwise, when users connect to the server, their client may connect to the wrong share. This can be accomplished by creating a separate security group for each sync share.
Further, access to an individual user's folder inside a sync share is determined by ownership rights on the folder. When creating a sync share, Work Folders by default grants users exclusive access to their files (disabling inheritance and making them the owner of their individual folders).
Design checklist
Work Folders For Mac Osx
The following set of design questions is intended to aid customers in designing a Work Folders implementation that best serves their environment. Customers should work through this checklist prior to attempting to deploy servers.
- Intended Users
- Which users will use Work Folders?
- How are users organized? (Geographically, by office, by department, etc)
- Do any users have special requirements for data storage, security, or retention?
- Do any users have specific device policy requirements, such as encryption?
- Which client computers and devices do you need to support? (Windows 8.1, Windows RT 8.1, Windows 7)If you're supporting Windows 7 PCs and want to use password policies, exclude the domain storing their computer accounts from the Work Folders password policy, and instead use Group Policy password policies for domain-joined PCs in that domain.
- Do you need to interoperate with or migrate from other user data management solutions such as Folder Redirection?
- Do users from multiple domains need to sync across the Internet with a single server?
- Do you need to support users who aren't members of the Local Administrators group on their domain-joined PCs? (If so, you'll need to exclude the relevant domains from Work Folders device policies such as encryption and password policies)
- Infrastructure and Capacity Planning
- In what sites should sync servers be located on the network?
- Will any sync servers be hosted by an Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) provider such as in an Azure VM?
- Will dedicated servers be needed for any specific user groups, and if so, how many users for each dedicated server?
- Where are the Internet ingress/egress points on the network?
- Will sync servers be clustered for fault-tolerance?
- Will sync servers need to maintain multiple data volumes to host user data?
- Data Security
- Will multiple sync shares need to be created on any sync servers?
- What groups will be used to provide access to sync shares?
- If you're using multiple sync servers, what security group will you create for the delegated ability to modify the msDS-SyncServerURL property of user objects?
- Are there any special security or auditing requirements for individual sync shares?
- Is multi-factor authentication (MFA) required?
- Do you need the ability to remotely wipe Work Folders data from PCs and devices?
- Device Access
- What URL will be used to provide access for Internet-based devices (the default URL that is required for email-based automatic server discovery is workfolders.domainname)?
- How will the URL be published to the Internet?
- Will automatic server discovery be used?
- Will Group Policy be used to configure domain-joined PCs?
- Will Windows Intune be used to configure external devices?
- Will Device Registration be required for devices to connect?
Next steps
After designing your Work Folders implementation, it's time to deploy Work Folders. For more information, see Deploying Work Folders.
Library Folder Mac
Additional References
Mac Folder Icons
For additional related information, see the following resources.
Documents Folder On Mac
Content type | References |
---|---|
Product evaluation | - Work Folders - Work Folders for Windows 7 (blog post) |
Deployment | - Designing a Work Folders Implementation - Deploying Work Folders - Deploying Work Folders with AD FS and Web Application Proxy (WAP) - Deploying Work Folders with Azure AD Application Proxy - Performance Considerations for Work Folders Deployments - Work Folders for Windows 7 (64 bit download) - Work Folders for Windows 7 (32 bit download) - Work Folders Test Lab Deployment (blog post) |