Organising files

Archiving without losing findability

Updated 2026-07-31 · 4 min read

Archiving fails in one of two ways: the files never leave, or they leave and are never found again.

What to archive

Finished, not merely old. The test: would resuming this need anything beyond the files themselves? Export/bounce final deliverables first (video, audio, PDFs) — project files without their app or assets are not an archive.

find ~/Documents/Projects -maxdepth 1 -type d -mtime +365

lists candidates untouched in a year.

The move, done properly

1. Copy (not move) to the archive drive
2. Verify by count and spot-check:

find ~/Documents/Projects/Acme -type f | wc -l
find /Volumes/Archive/Projects/Acme -type f | wc -l

1. Only then delete the original
2. Eject properly — FAT/exFAT drives especially

The format question

An archive drive that only ever meets Macs should be APFS — indexable, supports all metadata, snapshots. exFAT only if Windows must read it, accepting search degradation.

Staying findable — the part everyone skips

The moment the drive unmounts, Spotlight forgets it existed. Options, in ascending order of convenience:

• A listing file per drive: find /Volumes/Archive -type f > ~/Documents/archive-2026.txt

— grep it later

• A catalogue app, updated on every change (the discipline is the weak point)
• An index that retains unmounted volumes: search normally, results appear dimmed with the

drive's name, plug in only when you actually need the file. This is what Everywhere does, and archives are the case it exists for

Two drives if it matters

An archive that exists once is a single point of failure sitting in a drawer. Anything irreplaceable gets a second copy on a second drive, stored somewhere else.

Common questions

Should archive drives be APFS or exFAT?

APFS for Mac-only archives — proper indexing and metadata. exFAT only when Windows compatibility is required.

How do I find files on archive drives without plugging each in?

Keep listings per drive, or use a search tool that keeps unmounted volumes in its index and labels results with the drive name.