In this guide, you'll learn how to use folders to organize files in a workspace. Similar to how your computer uses folders to manage files, you can use folders in Workiva to organize all of your files.
Overview of folders
Folders are available in every workspace and are the preferred way to organize all of your files. For example, you might put all quarterly documents, spreadsheets, and presentations in a 2020 > Q4 folder structure.
You can see all folders in your workspace by going to Files and then All Files.
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All Files lists all the folders, files, and filings in your workspace. You'll only see the files and folders you have permission to access.
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Subfolders created by anyone in the workspace, such as a 2020 and Q4 folder, are listed under Files.
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Right-click a folder and select New Subfolder to create more folders to help organize files.
Note: If you copied files and projects, they default to a folder named "Copied Items" with a timestamp.
How to use folders
You should organize all of your files using folders and use the Filing option in your workspace to work with a financial filing. You can move projects into folders to keep them organized with other filing materials. Use folders to:
- Organize, find, and work with files
- Organize and keep track of filings
- Roll forward files
File breadcrumbs
You’ll see breadcrumbs as you navigate through your folders in Files. The breadcrumbs show you the folders where the files are located and provide an easy way to go between the nested folders.
Click the checkbox next to a file or folder to view its location in the breadcrumb path above the list of files. From there, you can easily navigate to any folder in the hierarchy.
Best practices
Here are some tips for using folders in a typical quarter.
Organize files:
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Use folders to organize all your files.
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Create a primary folder for all your documents that you work with in a quarter. Within the primary folder, you can organize documents and filings into subfolders to make similar files easy to find.
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Name folders with a special character (*'!) if you want them to appear at the top of the list.
Filing:
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Use folders to organize all your filing documentation.
- Include "filing" in the name of filing folders to help easily identify them.
Roll forward files:
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Use a folder to roll forward documents.
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Rename the folder created from the roll forward so it's easy to find, such as Primary Roll-Forward Folder or Quarterly Roll-Forward Folder.
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If you created additional files that you want to include when rolling forward, add them to the folder you are using to roll forward.
What about filings?
You can also use folders to organize your filings. Filing walks you through each step, from collecting documents to live filing. When you create a filing in Workiva, you add all the files and information needed for that filing right in the filing steps. The filing steps walk you through what to do next.