Windows 7 Libraries Explained – And Why You Want Them
I mentioned in an earlier post that there was a new feature in Windows 7 called libraries, but I was mean enough not to provide any details.
Here’s my attempt to make up for it.
First off, this isn’t difficult or complicated, and it is very cool. Windows XP and Vista used something called Known Folders as a standard set of places for you to store your files. In XP, the primary folder was My Documents, and there were some additional known folders inside that for My Pictures and My Music.
In Vista, some other folders were added to the picture, but the structure was much the same. There was one major change though. Microsoft removed the ‘My’ part of the names, so we ended up with Documents and Pictures. Windows 7 takes that base and does something stunning with it. Let me explain, and then I’ll show you an example.
Windows 7 contains a set of libraries. Each one works that same way, and they all take the place of the standard folders in XP and Vista.
A Library can be treated like a folder with a group of subfolders inside it, and can also pull some nifty tricks all of its own. The important thing to remember is this: the subfolders are not actually stored in the library. They are just made to seem as though they are. Each library has some default contents, but you can change these, and also create new libraries if you wish.
If you’re feeling a little confused, this example should clear it right up. You won’t need to see your doctor. Relax.
I’m a photographer, so the most interesting library to me is Pictures, but all of this applies to any library you choose. They all sit inside the Libraries, which is available as soon as you start Windows Explorer, so let’s start there.
As you can see, the four default libraries are here. Double-click the Pictures library to have a look inside it.
Inside Pictures is a single folder, called Sample Pictures. Now, come for a ride. It’s 2007, and you’re seriously early to the Windows 7 world. You’ve taken a whole lot of photographs, and you want somewhere to put them. Easy. Create a folder in the library, just the way you do anywhere else. Right-click in the open space, choose new – folder, and give it a name. Like 2007 for instance.
Now double-click that folder to open it, and put all your images in it. Let’s hope you managed to save more images than this, though.
Okay, now so far this is all just the way a folder would work, right? You could also create more subfolders in here if you needed to. No problem. But in this case, you didn’t need to.
Now, a year or so goes by, and you’ve been busy using up disk space with whatever you usually use to fill it. None of my business. in any case, You bought yourself a new-fangled USB hard drive, and plugged it in. It popped up as your E: drive, and you stored some more images there.
All good so far, except that now you have two places to look for images, unless you can remember which year you took them. Library to the rescue.
If we go back to the Picture Library, you can see there’s a link under title. It currently says 2 Locations. Click the link.
By default, the library includes files from your own Pictures folder and also the Windows 7 Public Pictures folder. We want to add another location. The place we stored the 2008 images. Click the Add… button, and browse to the folder that contains the folder you put the images in. So, don’t choose E:\pictures\2008, just E:\pictures.
Click the Include folder button, and then OK.
It might take a while to save the changes…
… but then, you’ll see that a new location has been added, and the photos are now all available in the library, just as though they had been moved there.
So why is this so cool?
- The pictures have not been moved
- The link is live. That is, if you add more folders inside E:\Pictures, then they will also appear in the library
- You can, with the right network setup, add folders from other computers to the libraries
- You can create whole new libraries if you wish
Most importantly, you can view things in the library in ways that you just can’t do with a folder.
Let me just add another folder to keep it interesting. Now that you know how it works, I’ll show you a short-cut as well.
Browse to the location that you have your 2009 pictures stored in…
Now click the Include in library button.
Choose the Pictures library. You’ll get that same delay as the files are added…
Browse back to the library, and you’ll see you have yet another year’s images.
Now, for some “Library-only” tricks.
See the Arrange by option, which is currently set to Folder? Change it to Day.
Now the pictures are sorted by the date on which they were taken. All of this is completely independent of the folders in which the files are stored. Try Month.
I hope you’re impressed.
One more. Try Tag.
I’ve written about image meta-data before. I’ve used some other software to add tags to these images, and now Windows recognises them. So, if I wanted to find all the images taken at Waihi Beach, I just need to do this. Double-clicking on one of the tags opens a folder with all the matching images inside, in date order. Very nice.
Try this with your music files and you’ll have a whole different set of options.
And that’s it. Libraries are great, especially for anyone who has been creating files for some time. But I’d like to know what you think. Will you use them? What for? Let me know in the comments.
(By) Jim's a working stiff in IT during the day, and has been so since about DOS 3.0, but tries to spend the magic hours out with a camera. He lives in New Zealand.
I love the Libraries feature of Win7, It’s good for my videos and pictures when i have them located in many places on my laptop and external HDD.
Pleased to hear it. Enjoy.
Libraries are the thing I hate most about Win7. I’m about to install the RC1 (had Beta before) to see if I can get used to it, but I really hated it the first time. I prefer to organize stuff on my own, and just use shortcuts when I need them.
Great to get some contrast in the comments.
I hope it goes better this time around!
Or you can simply forget about the concept of Libraries and use it like in the old days, together with the great performance of Win7
Whilst I like the new explorer, Why have they removed the facility of adding a delete button to mouse click with, that is dammed annoying to have to select, and then right click and then click again, and why, oh why is the delete next to rename in the context menu. The amount of times I’ve deleted things when trying to just rename, or renamed things I wanted to delete. Another serious definitely is a duel pane explorer. I wish I could afford Opus. Libraries are a step forward though, but other deficiencies are three steps backwards and pandering to the lowest audience. Shame Windows doesn’t have a super user environ.
I’m not sure what this comment has to to with Libraries, Scott, but I don’t find the new Explorer any sort of an issue. You know how it is with Windows – they have fourteen ways to do everything. Unfortunately they’ve removed the specific way you do things from this release. I’d wait for the release version and see if things improve for you.
Cheers
Jim
Rename is the F2 key, and delete is the delete key.
Nicely written article, Jim!
Thanks for teaching me how to use it, I’ll remember that for the future.
Thanks.
So it is a saved Smart Folder but more complex?
You talking about Smart Folders on a Mac, Derek? If so, I don’t have the first clue. Let me know, though, and I’ll go find out for you.
Cheers
Jim
Hmmm, Looks another copy/paste example from mac os X.
There is a smart folder concept, in MAC os X, since time immemorial. Congratulations Microsoft, for another successful copy operation. Cool.
Oh, please. OS X isn’t old enough to be described as ‘time immemorial’.
Hmmm, Looks like another laudation of ignorance from a mac OS worshiper. The Smart Folders feature wasn’t added to the mac OS until 2005 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smart_folder) and that was an import from another OS (as usual for the supposedly innovative apple). The virtual folders concept was actually added to windows xp with media center edition libraries, in 2002 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_XP_Media_Center_Edition#Media_Center_Edition), so, who ripped of who now?
Nice!
Maybe Windows 7 will stop my migration to Mac
This entire library thing is a nonessential and even silly fad (if you use a good file manager instead of Windows Explorer, you will know why you don’t need it). Cloaking and hiding actual file locations is generally an extremely bad idea. It will make this library concept very confusing to many “average users”: for example, it will lure them into thinking files have been saved on their harddisk, while actually they’re not.
As I say, a subject sure to polarise.
Thanks for your comments.
I dislike llibraries – I do not want a bunch of short cuts to my real files I want to be dealing with the real file and the real directory/subdirectory when I click on it. I can’t figure out where the real documents are actually stored.
Vista had a way to create favorite places in the Explorer and I kept getting confused which directory I was actually in – the links won’t let you create new folders and customize the folder It appears the libraries work the same way – just nonsense.
Is there a way to turns these off or not use them?
Well, you don’t have to use them any more than you need to use any other folder… but they sure are convenient, and most newish apps are going to default to the ‘known folders’, which translates directly to these libraries in Win 7.
One thing. If you just leave the libraries as they are, and don’t add any additional folders to any of them, they are almost identical to the folders in XP. Each library has a single default folder, and it behaves just like you just used that folder.
I don’t understand why Microsoft has to change something that isn’t broken. “My Documents” was a concept that worked well enough, people were comfortable with it, and the concept was around for a decade or so.
Now Microsoft, in their attempt to be more Mac-like (either through fear or losing users to Apple, or their desire to be more user-friendly like Apple) are adopting this change to Libraries. Why? Does Microsoft really think that millions of users will be using external hard drives as their main storage medium? Most documents and media (at least, user favorites and regularly used media…) will be stored within Windows in designate folders. In their attempt to create live-updating SHORTCUTS (because that’s all it really is, an over hyped shortcut) and to pull multiple folders into even more links, they’ve lost the main point of making an enjoying experience. Personally, I would have all the pictures or “memories” as MSFT calls them, already in my Photos folder, erm, Library. Why then, would I (a regular user- like most other Windows users) want to use this “feature”.
Considering that Microsoft should be focusing on Live, they need to create some kind of amazing tie-in to online services to easily, and quickly tag and store photos online. Instead of having a Library contain “multiple locations”, it could include something infinitely better, think Mac OS iDisk like interface inside each individual Library. Now THAT makes sense for nearly all users, instead of photo-nuts that cant keep track of their folders.
This company cant seem to make things better for their users. They need to focus on online integration and better experiences. The average Windows user that doesn’t subscribe to Windows Blogs, the average Joe-six pack, won’t understand the true “power” of libraries, and will think this feature is cumbersome and annoying. Goodwill is something Microsoft cannot afford to lose with its base of users, and changing something like this is sure to erode an already stale experience.
All I can say about Nathan’s comment is “AMEN”.
IMHO if somebody has to explain why I want something like this and then train me to use it -it is really not all that great for the average user – and for pictures Picasa is still the “best”.
We just really need the same thing for documents – index and show by file suffix.
Exactly!! Picasa is great because–
a)It delivers a stellar experience and amazing interface. The experience is amazing, while giving powerful tools to the end-users
b)Picasa delivers all photos (and video) from multiple locations without actually moving the media (much like Libraries) but this function/feature is only through Picasa, not through Explorer (which people use daily). Instead of having to navigate to Libraries>Pictures>Photos of “X” event, you simply power on Picasa and check out your masterpiece in the manner it deserves- a photo being viewed in a photo app, not some bland window. Instant access to what you want, when you want it- where you want it, and not in your way when you dont want it.
The concept of tagging isn’t new either. Vista’s photo managing software, while offering limited editing tools, did a decent job of organizing and managing photos through tags and dates. Just because they “can”, doesn’t mean Microsoft should take tags and management and shove it into Explorer. The end result is an abomination of usability. (Think trying to download a song through an explorer pane instead of using WMP..)
I love your comment Bob, Thanks!
(Comments wont nest below this level)Hi, Thats a great review of Libraries feature. Really Cool.
I have developed a software called LabelTop some time ago which lets you apply labels to your files (data and executable programs) and folders. Letting you view your data and programs (wherever it exists) in one location. It is available as a free download. Hope you enjoy using it
Regards
Don’t most professional photo tools (Lightroom and others) already have a database/library concept of their own? I don’t like it there either, now with two competing library concepts it’s going to get super confusing. Love Windows 7, don’t like libraries.
BTW, does Win7 support generic tagging (for other files types not just photos and music)?
Hi there.
I’m not sure they compete exactly, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see some packages begin to take advantage of the Windows Libraries next time they have a major release… but only time will tell.
As for generic tagging… sadly no. There’s no capability for adding tags as such. The Libraries just take advantage of whatever tagging is there, and then only do that where standards for the tags exist within the files themselves.
Sorry to chime in again, LabelTop is made for generic tagging of any file (including executable programs) or directory.
(Comments wont nest below this level)Very interesting reading. At first I too didn’t get Libaries but after reading up on them, I really like the idea. All of the negative comments about them seem to stem from wanting to keep things as they were: “if it’s not broken, why fix it?”, or “it worked fine before, why change it?”. This is perfectly understandable, but life is a series of painful paradigm shifts. When I first used a bit-mapped monitor with a Window manager I wanted to stay with my old TTY, then when I switched to Windows from Linux I missed my old command line windows. In both cases I would never go back now! I think Win7 Libaries are another step along the road away from a direct representation of the underlying file system structure. With XP Folders & Files you’re stuck with a single view. With Libraries we’re a little closer to an abstract view of the stored data. Think of it like tagging photos. I want that holiday photo of my wife to show up in my “wife” folder, my “holidays” folder, my “Tuscany” folder, my “castles” folder, etc, etc. Libaries isn’t quite there yet, but it will be soon. I like the sink analogy above, which also holds with cars. I don’t want to know what’s going on inside, I just want it to work! Computers still have a long way to go in the ease of use and learning curve departments.
This feature is avialible in Directory Opus (a replacement for windows explorer) for over one year, also for 2000, Xp and Vista.
Thank you! I didn’t have a clear picture of how Windows 7 Libraries work but you’ve shown me the way!
i really like the new libraries feature,but you forgot to mention adding a library for folders on another computer.this works way better than mapping a drive.if you add a library from say for your laptop on your pc the files always stay in sync.you can add files from the pc and when you turn the laptop on they are there.this also gives you drag and drop capabilities when using remote desktop connections ie.drop a file into the laptop folder and it’s in the library on the pc.it’s fast it’s easy
I keep my photos in folders.
Each folder is named such as “Rio Dec 09″ “Paris July 05″ and other such names.
I like the “tag” feature of WIN7. In the example given by the author above, utilising the tag feature allows me to easilt find photos of my wife, whether the phot be in Rio or in Paris.
This is a feature that professionals will love.
However, most photos takes by the average person are quite bad. They cannot even be bothered to remove the bad photos from any album.
It means they cannot be bothered to tag phots in WIN 7.
Its a great feature but most people will not use it.
-
Hi Jim,
nice explanation, thanks for review of the new Windows 7 feature.
I have additional question to you – which software do you use to tags your photos?
Thanks,
Peter
Sorry for the delay. I’ve been out of town and somewhat busy. I have used various things. I’d suggest the best free option with any structure to it would be Picasa, but I handed over real cash to use ACDSee Pro for the job.
Nice article Jim, but one things confuses me. I recently installed Windows 7 and used the libraries to add my movie collection which I hold on a NAS. The help section told me that in order to add them to the library I needed to sync them to allow them to be used offline. I did that and after leaving it overnight I saw that the C drive usage has increased from 20/30Gb to 500Gb. I thought the files aren’t physically moved? When I look at the library it does show the location as my NAS but the increase in disc usage has confused me. Thanks.
Hi Atif. How this works depends a whole lot on the type of device/network/setup you’re dealing with, but in this case it’s not the library function that’s causing the double up. It’s the syncing.
Looks like, for your NAS, the library’s not the best plan, unless you can spare the sync space.
I got the same issue. Well, its not an issue really. To make this work, the “View” has to have fast access, so the need for indexes. Thus, unusable for NAS storage. I wonder how other systems do this, like Mac or Linux.
From the Windows help dialog:
Why did I get a message saying that a location can’t be included because it’s not indexed?
It means that the folder is stored on a network location that hasn’t been indexed. A network folder can only be included in a library if the content of the folder has been added to the search index. If the folder is already indexed on the device where it’s stored, you should be able to include it directly in the library.
If the network folder is not indexed, an easy way to index it is to make the folder available offline. This will create offline versions of the files in the folder and add these files to the search index on your computer. After you make a folder available offline, you can include it in a library.
When you make a network folder available offline, copies of all the files in that folder will be stored on your computer’s hard disk. Take this into consideration if the network folder contains a large number of files.
I like the idea of creating categories for my files, because there are multiple ways to organize my files besides the directory structure I have set up on the hard drive. However, I can’t see this being useful unless I can change the actual file locations later and not lose the libraries. Is it possible to move files around without losing them in the libraries they were put in?
Nope. But it sounds as though you could achieve everything you want by tagging the images, and then using a search tool that respects the tags so that you can find them again. I mentioned ACDSee Pro in a previous response, and that would make it all fairly seamless so long as you used ACDSee to do the moving.
I’m not aware of a good free option, unfortunately. Anyone have any ideas?
Will W7 scan my drives for picture/document folders, or will they have to be manualy added. I can imagine that most people have folders of pics they dont want everyone seeing.
Hi JT.
Your default folders are used. You’ll need to add any others you’re after.
Jim
On my work network in XP everyone has a folder on the server. Their My Documents folder is mapped to this folder so that every document they use is in that one folder on the server. How can I set it so that no matter which library or folder a user puts something in, it really resides in that 1 folder on the server?
If I’m understanding you correctly, you can’t. However, if you’re running a proper Windows domain, then you could set policies such that your people could only save things in certain places. Out of scope of this article though, and definitely not my area, sorry.
Wow! This is so cool….. I have taken tons of pictures, this could help me get started to where those pictures are. By the way, since you are a photographer, do you have write any articles on it?
Articles on…? Photography? Not in here, no. This is a tech blog. I’ve written articles on various photography-related pieces of software, though. List here.
I’m sort of amused by all the negative comments. After all, this feature only adds functionality IF you choose to use it. As mentioned, you can remain blissfully unaware of it, if you want to.
This was a much needed update, imho. I stopped using My Documents years ago because it stopped being useful, for reasons which MS seems to have finally addressed.
With libraries, is it possible to hide away all of me and the missuses *ahem* special photos whilst being able to show our holiday snaps to the folks? We’d like to be able to view slideshows of our pics but don’t want any of them to pop up in WMC at an inconvinient moment!