How to Organize a Massive Collection of Screen Shots on Windows

If you take a lot of screenshots for work or school, your collection can become a mess quickly. Here is how to keep it organized.

1. Automated Naming with 3rd Party Tools

While Windows uses “Screenshot [Number]”, tools like ShareX allowed you to set custom naming patterns like %yyyy-%MM-%dd_%appname_screenshot.

2. Using Folders by Project

Don’t keep everything in one folder. Every time you start a new project:

• Create a subfolder in Pictures > Screenshots.
• Move related images there immediately.

3. Tagging Files

Windows doesn’t support easy tags for PNGs by default, but you can right-click a file, go to Properties > Details, and add Tags. You can then search for these tags in File Explorer.

4. Sorting by Date

In your Screenshots folder, right-click any empty space, select Sort by > Date created and Group by > Date created. This makes it much easier to find “that thing I captured this morning.”