Computer file management - Definition

The term computer file management refers to the manipulation of documents and data in files on a computer. Specifically, one may create a new file and save it, open or load a pre-existing file, or close a file without saving it. Additionally, one may group related files in directories or folders. These tasks are accomplished in different ways in different operating systems and depend on the user interface design and, to some extent, the storage medium being used.

Although the file management paradigm described above is currently the dominant one in computing, attempts have been made to create more efficient or usable paradigms. The concept of saving a file, in particular, has been the subject of much innovation, with some applications including an auto-save feature (to periodically save changes to a file in case of a computer crash, power outage, etc.) and others doing away with the save concept completely. In the latter case, one typically opens and closes files without ever being given the option to save them. Such applications usually have a multi-level undo feature to replace the concept of closing a file without saving any changes.