Libraries in Windows 7

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In this tutorial: How to use, modify, add and delete libraries in Windows 7

Last modified: 2011-12-30 13:09:04 EET

Libraries in Windows 7 are collections of folders. For example, Music library includes current user's My Music folder and Public Music folder (music files available for all users on the computer). Technically, a library is just a customizable view of items of the same kind. You can add your own folders to default Libraries and you can create new Libraries to include folders that are not applicable for default Libraries.

Modifying default Libraries in Windows 7

To modify a library, open Windows Explorer by pressing Windows Key+E on your keyboard. Click Libraries in Navigation Pane.
In Libraries, right-click the Library you want to modify and select Properties.
Windows 7, Libraries. To modify a Library, right-click it in Windows Explorer and select Properties.

To add a folder to the Library, click Include a folder... button.
Windows 7, Libraries. To add a folder to a Library, click Include a folder... button.

Find and open the folder you want to add to the Library, then click Include Folder button.
Windows 7, Libraries. Select the folder to add to a Library and click Include Folder.

The folder will be now included in the Library.

Removing a folder from a Library

If you want to delete a folder from a Library, click Remove button in Library Properties window. This will not delete the folder from hard disk, it will just remove it from the Library.
Be careful here as Windows 7 will not confirm folder removal!
Windows 7, Libraries. To delete a folder from a Library, click Remove button. This will not delete the folder from disk, just from the Library.

Restoring default folders in a default Library

In case you removed some default folder from a default Library and you cannot remember which one, click Restore Defaults button. This will recover all default settings for the Library. Please remember that this will also remove all the folders you might have added to the Library!
Windows 7, Libraries. To restore default folders in a default Library, click Restore Defaults button.

Creating a custom Library

Windows 7 is not limited to the default Libraries - Documents, Music, Pictures and Videos. You can add your own Libraries for anything you like: work documents, holiday trip plans, etc.

To create a new Library, either right-click some empty area in Libraries folder, select New and then click Library; or click the New library button in the toolbar.
Windows 7, Libraries. To add a new Library, right-click some empty area, select New and then click Library.

Type a name for the new Library and press Enter key on your keyboard to confirm. You can rename any library later by clicking on it once and then pressing F2 key on your keyboard. Alternatively, right-click on a Library and select Rename from the menu.
Windows 7, Libraries. After creating a new Library, type in a name for the Library. Then press Enter key on your keyboard.

As you can guess, the new Library is empty. Double-click to open it and then click Include a folder button to select the first folder to be included in the Library.
Windows 7, Libraries. A new Library is empty, click Include a folder button to add a folder to the Library.

As described above, find and select the folder you want to add to your new Library and click Include Folder button.
Next, open Library properties by right-clicking on the Library and selecting Properties from the menu. Add other folders to the Library using Include a folder... button.

In case you have more than one folder in a Library, you can select which folder will be the default location for saving files. For example, if you create a document and you save it to your Library, it will be saved to the folder that is specified as save location.
The current save location has a check mark to the left of its folder name. To select some other folder as default save location, click it and then click the Set save location button.
Windows 7, Libraries. Every Library has a default folder for saved files. To change default save location, click a folder and then click the Set save location button.

To select a folder view (Details, Thumbnails, List, etc) best suited for the library, use the Optimize this library for combo box. For example, General Items is best suited for mixed content - documents, photos, videos. But if you are creating a music library, select Music to see all necessary columns such as Bit rate, Artist, Title, etc.
Windows 7, Libraries. To select a Folder View for the Library, choose the item that best describes the contents of the Library from the Optimize this library for combo box.

Click OK or Apply to save changes.

Deleting a Library

To delete a custom or a default Library, right-click on it and select Delete. This will move the Library definition to Recycle Bin, but all folders that there included in the Library will stay intact and no files will be removed. Library is just a view, remember?
Windows 7, Libraries. To delete a Library, right-click it and select Delete. This will put the Library to Recycle Bin, but all folders included in the Library will remain untouched - no files will be erased.

Windows 7 will then confirm removal of the Library. Click Yes to put the Library to Recycle Bin.
Windows 7, Libraries. To confirm removing a Library, click Yes.

If you accidentally removed a Library you needed, you can recover it from Recycle Bin as described in the Work with files and folders in Windows article. Or you can undo the action with a simple keyboard shortcut - CTRL+Z.

Restoring default Libraries

In case you deleted one or more default Libraries and you cannot use Recycle Bin for some reason, right-click the Libraries item in Windows Explorer Navigation Pane. Click Restore default libraries.
Windows 7, Libraries. To recover all default Libraries, right-click Libraries in Navigation Pane. Then click Restore default libraries.