---
id: KB-ET-004
url: https://app.codecontract.io/help/your-workspace/organising-folders-and-projects
idioma: en
categoria: espacio-de-trabajo
audiencia: usuario
nivel: intermedio
actualizado: 2026-08-13
tambienEn: [es]
relacionados: [KB-ET-001, KB-ET-002]
citadoPor: [KB-ET-006, KB-PS-006, KB-ET-009, KB-ET-015, KB-CC-005]
---

# Organising folders and projects

_The structure that still works in two years, and the one that does not._

**Responde a:** how should i organise documents in folders · recommended folder structure · i cannot find documents · by project or by client

Almost everyone starts organising by year and ends up finding nothing. The reason is simple: nobody looks for "the 2025 stuff", they look for "that supplier's stuff".

**En corto**

- Organise by what you get asked about, not by when it happened.
- Three levels at most. Nobody uses the fourth.
- If you hesitate about where something goes, the structure is wrong.

## What works

| If you work by | Structure |
| --- | --- |
| Clients | Client → type of work → document |
| Sites or projects | Site → subcontractor → document |
| Internal areas | Area → process → document |

_The first level is always whatever people name on the phone._

## What does not work

- By year: nobody asks about a year, and everything splits into arbitrary pieces.
- By who uploaded it: that person leaves and the folder loses its meaning.
- Five levels deep: things get filed wrong because nobody goes that far down.

> [!NOTE]
> The date is already on every document and can be filtered. It does not also need to be a folder.

And even with a good structure, searching is usually faster than navigating: search looks inside documents, not just at their names.

**Can I change the structure later?**

Yes, folders move without losing anything.

**Can a document live in two places?**

Yes, it is linked rather than duplicated, and does not take up space twice.

**Is a per-year folder inside each client worth it?**

Only if you have a great deal per client. Otherwise it gets in the way.

## Ejemplos

**An accountancy firm cannot find a client's documents from two years ago.**

- Reorganises from year → client to client → type of work

→ Anyone on the team reaches a client's material in two clicks, without knowing which year it was.

**A folder is created for every document.**

- Uses folders to group and projects to work

→ The structure stops growing with every file.

**Nobody finds anything because everyone organises their own way.**

- Agrees a structure and applies it

→ Anyone reaches the same place.

**Three jobs for the same client get mixed.**

- Each job is a project

→ One can be closed without touching the others.

**The whole structure is designed before being used.**

- Starts with the minimum and grows with use

→ The structure answers the real work.

**There are folders nobody has opened in a year.**

- Reviews and archives what is unused

→ The structure stays readable.