How to create complex folder structures with just 1 click
By: Giacomo Pasini
Tags: Apple, Automation, Shortcuts, Productivity, Filmmaking

Why you should proceed or not proceed reading this article:

Even if the next general principles could be applied to any folder structure on any digital support you are using, I unfortunately still don’t know how to create all the automations and the amazing hacks that the built-in Apple native app iOS Shortcuts are giving even to non programmers users.

All my articles and the tools I provide are always meant and thought to respect your precious time.

So if you are an Android or Windows Phone OS user I greatly respect you but I don’t want you to invest even a minute going on unless you are interested on giving a quick glance on what’s possible to do on iOS devices with little or no experience at all.

But if you are an Apple user you will find in the next few lines all the basics to create your own “1-click automated folder creation tool” and at the end of this article I will also provide a screen recording of the Shortcut in action and a link to a ready-to-go Video Creation Nested Folder Structure Shortcut that you can download and use as-is or even adapt it to your specific needs.

Anyone who is reading this, one day or another, probably has stumbled upon the same question that any content creator, whether is making videos or reportages, recording podcast, writing articles or books, giving courses, public speeches or just a simple presentation, has to confront:

“Where did I saved that piece of information, that note, that picture, that footage, that audio, that #*%’ (fill at your will!) I am now getting so mad at finding out again?”

Don’t break the flow while you are in “the zone”!

When you are planning or drafting your content, if you are somewhat like me, you are probably ending up with multiple browser tabs opened, many links, notes, pictures and contents that you have set apart to help you craft your next creation.

Even for relatively simple video content, the resources scenario could evolve so complex and intricate that without you are even realizing, it really could be too late to fix the structure; you will probably end up cluelessly scratching your head and wasting your time (and sometimes your patience too!) trying to figure out where you have put that missing piece of content that keeps you stuck.

Courtesy of https://unsplash.com/@karinacarvalho

You maybe have your B-rolls on a SD card, other footage on a local drive, some templates or general resources on Dropbox or iCloud, the audio or the voiceovers on your recorder, the music on different online services, the outline on a Google Doc or in Notes, some useful links in Evernote, pictures in the Image folder, and if you use mindmaps or even storyboards, you could have sketched them somewhere on your iPad.

I don’t know about you, but I used to really get annoyed and frustrated when I was in the middle of “The Zone” and I suddenly get stuck because I wasn’t able to immediately find that single missing piece to proceed at full steam ahead.

And sometimes when I get back from the “M.I.A. rescue recovery mission” I found myself having lost all the momentum; getting back to the creation or the editing part had become so hard that I eventually decided to stop and resume the work in a different moment.

Structure your resources before you start your next project!

If you are a professional content creator working everyday on multiple projects at the same time, I am quite sure that you have adopted the following tactics a long time ago, so probably you could skip this section without any worries.

But if you’re an occasional content creator just like me this simple strategy could really save you a lot of time and frustration waiting you down the road!

“ Please do your future self a real favor! “

Resist the temptation to dive-in immediately on the creative part for your next project and give this simple solution a try. I’m quite sure that you will heartfully thank yourself as I have already done not a long time ago. (Today! …as I am writing this)

Any real professional crafter (a cook, a painter, a craftsman, a mechanic,...you name it!) knows that the working place and the setup has to be made upfront the starting of the works and that it will be infinitely easier and better if you prepare your tools and all the “ingredients” of your recipe (or anything you will possibly need) in advance.

Speaking about content creation, anytime I start a new project, even for something like this article, I fire a very simple but really powerful iOS Shortcut that immediately creates inside iCloud a well organized nested folder structure that I will use to store anything that could relate to that specific project.

Courtesy of https://unsplash.com/@barnimages

I have invested a few minutes to plan and figure out what will be the ideal folder structure for any kind of project that involves resources; then I decided a specific and predetermined location for everything that I am sure I will later remember and also get used to, for whatever I will needed further down in the workflow.

So now, anytime I need for example to store B-Rolls footage, or screenshots for a tutorial, or adding content to an article outline, or storing an audio recording, I am sure that I already had setup in place the right and organized containers to store them without the risk of puzzling and mixing too much.

Whenever I am starting something new, having this preset Master Folder let me easily move it inside or outside of the filesystem or even from the device; I could also put it in shared cloud collaborative storage like Google Drive or Dropbox to easily get outside contributions while collecting all the raw materials.

The beneficial side effect of this simple strategy is that for every project you complete you are building some kind of “muscle memory” so when you gather together the various pieces and decide to store something, or anytime you need a piece of content, you already exactly know where it belongs and where you will find it later on.

Did you know you had the Ultimate Toolbox inside your iOS device?

For all the relevant information explaining what iOS Shortcuts are and how to use them you can refer to this Apple website section.

Just to put it down in really simple words, think about them as a full LEGO set: you have multiple pieces each with specific functions and outputs (these building blocks are called Actions) that you can combine, pile up and put together to execute a set of instructions, to manipulate a wide variety of contents or inputs, to choose between different options and so on.

Courtesy of https://unsplash.com/@krstne

And these combinations and possibilities are nearly infinite and extremely customizable for any of your specific need.

It’s like the Genie in The Bottle: you can quite really get whatever you want from your iOS device and, with the right knowledge and experience, even build your own apps and your automations that can go across almost the entire Apple devices ecosystem and that are fully integrated with Siri.

How to create nested folder structure with iOS:

This is how simple is to use the Shortcut:

You trigger it with voice control by saying out loud the Shortcut name after the “Hey Siri” or clicking on its tile-like button. (It can also be triggered automatically by other Shortcuts if it’s part of a chained or a multiple steps workflow!) You are prompted to choose the name of the Project that will be your new Master Folder. In one fraction of second it goes through the set of actions and it creates in iCloud/Shortcuts/ the structured nested folder you have planned. It notifies you that it successfully created a new project folder and it asks you to choose between opening the Files app or simply exiting with a Notification.

It’s done: you don’t even have to think about it more.