[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":198},["ShallowReactive",2],{"glossary-en-google-drive-folder-structure":3},{"id":4,"title":5,"body":6,"category":188,"description":189,"draft":190,"extension":191,"meta":192,"navigation":193,"path":194,"seo":195,"stem":196,"__hash__":197},"glossary_en\u002Fglossary\u002Fgoogle-drive-folder-structure.md","Google Drive folder structure: examples that work",{"type":7,"value":8,"toc":178},"minimark",[9,13,18,25,36,42,48,58,64,73,77,80,116,120,131,150,155,162,166],[10,11,12],"p",{},"A good Google Drive folder structure is shallow (three levels or fewer), organized by topic rather than file type, and paired with a naming convention so files sort themselves alphabetically within each folder. The structure matters less than the convention: any layout works if every file is named and filed the same way every time.",[14,15,17],"h2",{"id":16},"three-structures-that-hold-up","Three structures that hold up",[10,19,20,24],{},[21,22,23],"strong",{},"Personal admin."," Topic first, year second:",[26,27,32],"pre",{"className":28,"code":30,"language":31},[29],"language-text","Admin \u002F\n  Tax \u002F 2026 \u002F payslip-2026-05.pdf\n  Housing \u002F lease-2024-09-01.pdf\n  Insurance \u002F axa-home-policy-2026.pdf\n  Health \u002F lab-results-2026-03-18.pdf\n  Vehicles \u002F clio-registration.pdf\n","text",[33,34,30],"code",{"__ignoreMap":35},"",[10,37,38,41],{},[21,39,40],{},"Freelancer or consultant."," Clients first, because that's how you look things up:",[26,43,46],{"className":44,"code":45,"language":31},[29],"Clients \u002F\n  Acme \u002F\n    contracts \u002F acme-msa-2026-02-10.pdf\n    invoices \u002F acme-inv-2026-014.pdf\n    deliverables \u002F\n  Globex \u002F ...\nInternal \u002F\n  Accounting \u002F 2026 \u002F\n  Templates \u002F\n",[33,47,45],{"__ignoreMap":35},[10,49,50,53,54,57],{},[21,51,52],{},"Small team."," Function first, with an ",[33,55,56],{},"_Archive"," at each level so old material drops out of view without being deleted:",[26,59,62],{"className":60,"code":61,"language":31},[29],"Operations \u002F\nSales \u002F\n  Proposals \u002F 2026 \u002F\n  _Archive \u002F\nFinance \u002F\n  Invoices-received \u002F 2026 \u002F 06 \u002F\n  Invoices-sent \u002F 2026 \u002F\nHR \u002F\n",[33,63,61],{"__ignoreMap":35},[10,65,66,67,72],{},"For team layouts on a Workspace shared drive, permissions change the picture — see ",[68,69,71],"a",{"href":70},"\u002Fglossary\u002Forganize-shared-drive","how to organize a shared drive",".",[14,74,76],{"id":75},"naming-the-half-of-the-structure-people-skip","Naming: the half of the structure people skip",[10,78,79],{},"Folders position a file once; names keep it findable forever. Three rules cover most cases:",[81,82,83,94,107],"ul",{},[84,85,86,89,90,93],"li",{},[21,87,88],{},"Date first, ISO format",": ",[33,91,92],{},"2026-06-03-carrefour-receipt.pdf"," sorts chronologically by itself.",[84,95,96,99,100,103,104,72],{},[21,97,98],{},"Same pattern per document family",": every invoice as ",[33,101,102],{},"{supplier}-{date}.pdf",", every contract as ",[33,105,106],{},"{party}-{type}-{date}.pdf",[84,108,109,115],{},[21,110,111,112],{},"No ",[33,113,114],{},"final_v2_REAL",": Drive keeps version history on a single file; duplicates with suffix names defeat both search and structure.",[14,117,119],{"id":118},"keeping-it-alive","Keeping it alive",[10,121,122,123,126,127,130],{},"Structures don't fail at design time — they fail at filing time, when ",[33,124,125],{},"IMG_4523.HEIC"," and ",[33,128,129],{},"document (3).pdf"," pile up in the Drive root because filing each one takes six clicks. Two mitigations:",[132,133,134,144],"ol",{},[84,135,136,143],{},[21,137,138,139,142],{},"An ",[33,140,141],{},"_Inbox"," folder"," at the top of My Drive. Everything new lands there; you triage it on a schedule instead of constantly.",[84,145,146,149],{},[21,147,148],{},"Batch the filing."," Once a structure is defined, the triage itself can be delegated: a tool like Sorters takes your structure and naming convention as a template, reads the files you pick from the inbox (scans and photos included), and renames and files them to match — useful when the inbox has 80 items, unnecessary when it has 5.",[151,152,154],"h3",{"id":153},"how-deep-should-folders-go","How deep should folders go?",[10,156,157,158,161],{},"Three levels is a practical ceiling (",[33,159,160],{},"Finance \u002F Invoices-received \u002F 2026","). Beyond that, filing gets slow enough that people stop doing it, and Drive's search-plus-recent view becomes faster than browsing anyway.",[151,163,165],{"id":164},"related","Related",[10,167,168,172,173,177],{},[68,169,171],{"href":170},"\u002Fglossary\u002Forganize-invoices-in-google-drive","How to organize invoices in Google Drive"," applies these patterns to the most common document family, and ",[68,174,176],{"href":175},"\u002Fglossary\u002Forganize-google-drive-by-file-type","how to organize Google Drive by file type"," covers the triage pass that often comes before any structure exists.",{"title":35,"searchDepth":179,"depth":179,"links":180},2,[181,182,183],{"id":16,"depth":179,"text":17},{"id":75,"depth":179,"text":76},{"id":118,"depth":179,"text":119,"children":184},[185,187],{"id":153,"depth":186,"text":154},3,{"id":164,"depth":186,"text":165},"Guides","Proven Google Drive folder structure examples for personal admin, freelancers, and small teams — plus naming rules that keep them working.",false,"md",{},true,"\u002Fglossary\u002Fgoogle-drive-folder-structure",{"title":5,"description":189},"glossary\u002Fgoogle-drive-folder-structure","UqWnuJ-R1_G1c9QjqVsN3BrYyW5T6v1Xpj16KUjPCqI",1785276343868]