Do you find your iPhone Home screen a bit cluttered and would you like to better organize the icons residing inside it? Would you like to create special collections containing photos, emails or personal files, but you just don’t know how to do it? Then the information that I am going to give you below will certainly be useful to you.
Today, in fact, I want to explain to you how to create iPhone folders to organize apps, photos, documents and other files as you would on a computer. It is not difficult, all you have to do is use a special “standard” app or, alternatively, download some applications that I am about to recommend from the App Store and use them by following the instructions below.
If you are interested, we will also see how to create secret folders in which to add photos and videos to be kept invisible in the iOS Photos app. This way you won’t give up on any of your shots and keep your nosy friends at bay. So, what are you waiting for? Take five minutes of free time and learn how to better manage the folders of your “iPhone by”. It will be much easier than you imagine, I assure you.
Index
- How to create iPhone app folders
- How to create file folders on iPhone
- How to create private folders on iPhone
- How to Create iPhone Photos Folders
- How to create private photo folders
- How to create Mail folders on iPhone
How to create iPhone app folders
To keep the iPhone Home screen well organized , you can collect the applications on it in convenient “thematic” folders, so that you always have them at hand – while not going to clog your phone’s home screen with dozens and dozens of icons.
Doing so is really simple: to create a folder, first make a long tap on an empty spot on the Home screen, until the icons in it begin to shake; now, to create a folder made up of multiple apps, press and hold your finger on the icon of the first application to be transferred in the folder, drag it to that of the second app and lift your finger, to finish.
To rename the folder you just created, make a long tap on it, press on the Rename item located in the menu that appears and type the name to be assigned, in the appropriate field; to confirm the change, press the Done / Done button on the virtual keyboard and tap on an empty spot on the Home screen twice consecutively, in order to exit the edit mode.
Once you have created the folder of your interest, you can transfer all the apps you want to it, simply by dragging the respective icons on the folder itself; Please note that the Home screen folders can contain both app icons in turn present in Home, and application icons resident, however, only in the App Library .
If you have second thoughts, you can move an app back to the Home screen by going into the folder that contains it and dragging it out. If a folder remains empty, it is automatically deleted; alternatively, it is possible to delete a folder by making a long tap on it and selecting the items Remove folder and Remove from the Home screen : the app icons contained in it are automatically moved to the App Library.
The arrangement of icons in the Home screen folders does not affect the arrangement set for the App Library. It is not possible to modify the preset folders in the latter in any way, as they are generated, organized and “filled” in a completely automatic way by iOS.
However, it is always possible to remove an icon from the Home screen (or from a folder on it), so that it appears only in the App Library: to do this, make a long tap on the icon to be deleted, touch the item Remove app located in the menu that appears and choose the Remove from Home screen option to finish.
As already mentioned above, it is also possible to copy the icon of any app present in the folders of the App Library within the directories created on the Home screen: all you have to do is open the App Library by making a few swipes to the right, press and keep your finger pressed on the icon of the application to be moved and drag it to the desired folder on the Home screen.
How to create file folders on iPhone
Starting from iOS 11 , Apple has introduced an application on the iPhone, called File , through which it is possible to create folders on iCloud Drive , on other cloud services and applications that can take advantage of the integration with iOS and, in some special cases , even in the internal memory of the device.
To use it, all you have to do is go to the Home screen or to the iPhone App Library and touch the application icon, depicting a blue folder on a white background . If you can’t find the app right away, try searching for it using the search bar located on the App Library.
If, following this operation, you still can’t see the Files icon, it is most likely because you have unintentionally removed the app. To fix it, you can download it again from the App Store by following this link , tapping the Get / Install button and, when prompted, completing the authentication via Face ID , Touch ID or Apple ID password . Once the download is complete, tap the Open button to start the application immediately.
The main File screen is divided into two tabs, accessible via the same number of buttons located at the bottom: Recent and Browse . The latter contains various sections: under the item Locations , you will find all the locations and folders accessible through the application; basic, it allows you to access iCloud Drive folders and recently deleted files but, if apps or services that integrate with iOS memory management are installed on the iPhone, you will see an entry called iPhone through which to access the directories created from the latter.
In the Favorites section , there are the folders you usually access most often; under the Tag heading , on the other hand, you will find all the tags set for quick access to the marked elements. The Search field , as you can easily guess, can allow you to quickly search among all the files and folders available.
The Recent tab also allows you to quickly access all recently opened files without having to waste precious time looking for them.
As for the creation of folders, tap on the Browse tab and enter the position in which to act, then make a long tap in an empty spot on the screen and select the item New folder from the menu you see appear.
Subsequently, enter the name you want to assign to the folder you are about to create in the appropriate field and then stop on the End item at the top right. Obviously, you can repeat this procedure as many times as there are folders you want to create.
To move a file within a given folder, open the position in which it is originally located, tap the (…) button at the top right and choose the Select item located inside it; now, put the check mark in correspondence with the elements on which you want to intervene, touch the folder symbol visible at the bottom and use the panel proposed later, to reach the new position in which to move or copy the elements.
Finally, tap the Move / Copy item located at the top right and that’s it. You can also duplicate the folders (with all their contents) by selecting them as I explained earlier and then tapping on the icon with the two squares and the “+” symbol at the bottom.
Have you created a folder but do you want to delete it or do you want to remove the files inside it? You can do this too, of course. To delete one or more folders or one or more files inside them, go to the reference position, enter selection mode as I explained to you a little while ago and touch the trash can symbol at the bottom. If you want, you can also simultaneously select all the folders or all the files that are inside them by tapping first on the Select item and then on All at the top left.
Note : If you have enabled synchronization of documents and desktops with iCloud on a Mac, you will find the related folders, Documents and Desktop , in iCloud Drive.
How to create private folders on iPhone
Are you interested in understanding how to create hidden folders on iPhone , since you would like to keep some files safe from “prying” eyes? Well, in this case, the matter gets complicated: Apple is in fact quite tough on the policies of access and management of files by third-party apps. Therefore, at the time of writing this guide, there is no application that can cope with it.
On the other hand, you can partially work around the problem by replacing Apple’s Files app with Readdle’s free Documents file manager , which can browse iPhone files just like the Files app. In addition, Documents has a practical security feature, through which you can set a password to prevent unauthorized launch of the app.
After downloading the app in question, start it and provide the permissions necessary for its operation, responding affirmatively to the warnings that appear on the screen. Now, to ensure the necessary protection, press on the gear symbol located in the upper left corner of the app home screen, touch the Security item located in the panel that appears and move the levers corresponding to the Password protection and Request immediately items to ON. .
Now, type a password with which to protect future accesses in the Password and Confirm fields and, if you also want to enable activation via Face ID / Touch ID , move the corresponding lever to ON .
For the rest, the operation of Documents is quite intuitive: to view the files and folders stored on the iPhone, simply press the My files button , located at the bottom of the main program screen. To create a new folder, simply press the (+) button at the bottom and select the New folder item from the panel that appears.
Also through the same menu, you can also import items from the Photos app, your computer, the cloud or a remote server, create a new PDF file, a new text document or scan an item with the camera.
Finally, in order to avoid unwanted access to your files, I suggest you delete the Apple Files app (it can be re-downloaded at any time from the App Store): to do this, make a long tap on the File icon, select the Remove app item from the menu that appears and confirms the desire to proceed by pressing the Delete app and Delete buttons .
If instead you want to create private folders containing photos and videos, you can use the Private Photo Vault application , which I am going to talk to you about in one of the following chapters of this guide.
How to Create iPhone Photos Folders
Not everyone knows it, but the iPhone Photos app allows you to create real folders , within which you can organize photos and videos in single albums: for example, if you intend to collect the shots and videos made during your last vacation, you could create a folder called Vacation and, inside it, many small albums with the names of the places visited.
To take advantage of this feature, proceed as follows: after opening the Photos app, tap on the Albums tab located at the bottom and then on the [+] button , located at the top left. Now, tap on the item New folder located in the panel that appears, assign a name to the item you are about to create and tap on the item Save , to conclude.
To create an album within the newly created folder, tap on the name of the latter, press the [+] button located at the top and select the New album item from the panel that appears. Finally, give the album a name and tap the Save button , to create it.
Now, to add images and videos to the newly created folder, tap on the Library tab of the Photos app, tap the Select button located at the top and put the check mark next to the multimedia elements to organize. When you’re done, tap the share button (the square with the arrow ), select the Add to album item from the panel that appears and use the next screen to select the folder and album in which to place the files.
Please note that if you have activated the synchronization via iCloud Photos, the albums and folders created will also be available on all other devices associated with the same Apple ID.
How to create private photo folders
And if you want to create folders containing photos and videos inside to keep away from prying eyes, try Private Photo Vault : it is an application that allows you to hide photos and videos by protecting them with a password, Face ID or Touch ID .
The app is available in two versions: one free , with basic functions and the ability to create a maximum of 2 personalized albums containing only photos and a Pro which, upon in-app purchase (€ 5.49), allows you to bypass the previous limit, remove banner ads, block even movies and access additional features (including data synchronization on multiple devices and storage of protected photos on a secure cloud space different from iCloud Drive).
In any case, once you have obtained the application, open it and tap on the Start and Set passcode buttons : therefore create a four-digit PIN with which to protect access to your photos, press on the Create item and enter your email address in the ‘special field, so you can recover your photos even in case of loss of the PIN.
Once this is done, touch the buttons Completed , Next (twice consecutively) and I agree and, once you reach the Private Photo Vault initial screen, tap the [+] button located at the top right and select the items Import and Photo Archive from the following panels . Once this is done, choose the album in which to insert the private photos and select the images to hide , by tapping on the respective previews.
At this point, press the Add button to import the photos into the app and press the Delete button , in order to delete the shots from the Photos app (which can always be opened freely). Finally, remember to delete the traces of the “privatized” photos also from the Recently deleted album , otherwise they will remain visible in the latter for a specific period of time.
To learn more about Private Photo Vault and other systems to hide photos on iPhone , I refer you to reading my specific guide on the subject.
How to create Mail folders on iPhone
Would you like to better organize your e-mail messages, dividing them into folders – or rather, into “boxes” – other than the default ones? No problem, as the Mail app provides this possibility.
To do this, open the iOS Mail app and, if necessary, tap on the item located at the top left, in order to access the list of folders belonging to the various e-mail addresses.
Now, tap on the Edit item located at the top right, then on the wording New mailbox at the bottom and enter the name to be assigned to the new folder in the field provided.
Subsequently, tap on the menu below the item Position box , tap on the name of the e-mail address (eg. ICloud ) in which to create the new folder and, having made your selection, press on the Save and End items , to return to the list of e-mail addresses and related folders configured.
To transfer a message to a given box, open it, tap on the folder symbol located at the bottom and then on the name of the box to move it to. That’s all!
