How to use groups on your macOS desktop and keep it looking flawless

Si tu Mac looks like a a junk drawer full of files, screenshots, and foldersYou're not the only one. Your desktop fills up without you even noticing, and by the time you want to react, it's impossible to find anything without wasting time.

The good news is that macOS has plenty of options for Organize your desktop automatically with groups, stacks, folders, and labels. and fairer TricksLet's see, step by step and in detail, how to take advantage of these functions and leave your digital workspace like a well-organized library.

What are desktop groups and stacks in macOS?

In modern versions of macOS, Apple offers two main ways to automatically group desktop files: the view by Groups (Stacks/Groups in some translations) and the Batteries from the desktop. Both aim for the same thing: to stop your desktop from being a mess of loose icons.

When you activate these functions, the system takes care of classify the files according to their type, date or tagsIt's like piling up similar papers on your desk: all the photos in one pile, all the presentations in another, and so on. Every new file that lands on your desktop is placed directly into its corresponding group or pile.

The result is a much cleaner desktop, but with quick access to everything: you just have to open the stack or group with one click to see what's inside, work with those files, and close it again when you're finished.

Furthermore, at the system level, there are also the User GroupsThese are used to share permissions and access among multiple people. They don't organize the desktop, but they're useful if you share files over a network or use shared folders on your Mac.

Configure desktop display in macOS

Before we start grouping things like crazy, it's a good idea to adjust how the desktop icons are displayed so that everything looks organized. organized, legible, and adapted to your way of working.

On your Mac, click on an empty area of ​​the desktop and enter View> Show View Options in the menu bar. You can also press the Control key while clicking on the desktop and choose Show display options in the context menu.

In that window you can modify a lot of parameters: icon size, spacing between items, text size, name position (below or to the side of the icon) and even show additional information, such as how many files a group or stack contains.

Additionally, from the menu Display > Sort by You can choose whether you want the desktop to organize items by name, type, date added, size, tags, and more. If you prefer to place things manually, leave that option selected. Nada and only order it when you need it.

If at any point the desktop appears empty when it shouldn't, check in System settings > Desktop and Dock (in macOS Ventura and later) that the option to show items is set to On the desk and not only in the visual organizer.

Use stacks on the desk to organize into groups

The desktop batteries They are one of the quickest ways to go from an overflowing desk to a clean and manageable surface. Their mission is automatically group documents that share the same characteristic, usually the file type.

When you turn on stacks, macOS creates organized piles of your files: The photos in one pile, the presentations in another, the PDFs in anotherand so on. New files you save to the desktop will be added directly to the appropriate stack, without you having to do anything.

How to activate the batteries on the desktop

To activate this feature, go to your desktop and click on the menu. Display From the top of the screen, then select Use batteriesYou'll see how the loose icons are grouped together immediately.

If you find it more convenient to use the keyboard, there's a very handy shortcut: press Control + Command + 0 to activate or deactivate stacks on the fly. It's perfect if you want to quickly switch between viewing everything grouped together or viewing each file individually.

How to open, close, and navigate stacks

Working with batteries is very simple. open a stackYou just have to click on it once; the files expand around the stack, as if you were spreading the pile of papers out on the table.

To open any of the files inside, simply double-click on the document, just like always. When you're finished, click on the stack title again to close it and the icons will disappear.

If you simply want take a quick look at what's in a pile Without fully opening it, place two fingers on the battery on the trackpad and slide to the right; on the Magic Mouse, make the gesture with one finger. This way you can easily browse its contents.

Customize the appearance of the batteries

From the menu View> Show View Options You can customize the batteries to suit your taste and your way of working: Adjust icon size, font size, alignment, and spacing between items. and other details of the desktop grid.

This way, you not only organize your desktop, but you also transform it into a more comfortable and pleasant environment. With a few adjustments, you can go from a cluttered desktop to one where Everything looks clean, balanced, and easy to identify..

Organize your desktop automatically with Groups

In addition to batteries, macOS includes an option called Groups which also serves to automatically organize your desktopThe idea is similar: your loose files are grouped according to the criteria you choose.

With Groups you can decide that the elements are organized by file type, date, or tagsIf you choose to group by type, all images will be in one group, all presentations in another, text documents in another, and so on. If you choose date, you can have, for example, groups by creation or modification date.

Once activated, macOS will categorize existing files and, very importantly, Any new file you save to the desktop will automatically be placed in the correct groupThis helps you keep things organized without having to constantly drag and drop things.

If at any point you have trouble locating something because it is "hidden" in a group, you can expand the group by clicking on it and, if you prefer, deactivate Groups Easily. To do this, Control + click on the desktop and uncheck the option Use groupsThe files will be displayed individually again.

Create and use folders to organize your desktop

Beyond piles and groups, one of the classic ways to organize is create well-designed folders and subfoldersThis works both on the desktop and in any other location on your Mac.

Create folders quickly

To create a new folder on the desktop, use the shortcut Shift + Command + NA folder called "Untitled" or similar will appear, which you can rename immediately.

If you want to group several existing files into a folder without creating it first, select all the items you want to group, press the Control key while clicking on one of them, and choose New folder with the selection. Note that Locked items cannot be grouped with this method.

Select multiple items at once

If you need to move a set of files, you can Select multiple by holding down the Command key and clicking on each one. This is great when the items are scattered.

When the files you want to move are next to each other, there's a faster trick: click on the first one, hold down the key Capital letters and then click on the last one; everything in between will be selected.

Create a new folder with several items inside

If you have a few files on your desktop that you want to save together but their folder doesn't exist yet, select them all, hold down the Control key, click on the desktop, and choose the option New folder with the selection (or similar, depending on your macOS version). This will instantly create a folder containing those items.

Organize projects into folders and subfolders

A good practice is that, Every time you start a new project, create a specific folder for it. and store all related files within it. Inside that main folder, you can create subfolders by date, by document type (reports, presentations, graphic resources), or by project phases.

This system ensures that when you return to a project months later, Have it all together and don't have to search in a thousand different locations. And if you use clear file names, you'll also be able to find them easily with Spotlight.

Smart Labels and Folders: Advanced Grouping

In addition to the "physical" organization with folders, macOS offers tools for Group files logically even if they are in different locationsThe main characters here are the labels and smart folders.

Organize with colored labels

Labels are a quick way to mark files and folders with personalized colors and namesFor example, you can use one color for urgent matters, another for pending tasks, and another for archived material.

To use a label, right-click a file or folder and select one of the label colors. You can also use the label icon in the Finder windowOnce tagged, you'll see a colored dot next to the item.

In the Finder sidebar, under the section TagsYou can click on a specific color to see all the items that share that label, even if they are spread across different folders.

If the default labels don't fit, you can Create new labels with the name and color you want.Right-click on a file, choose Tags, type a name, choose a color, and press Enter. Finder > Preferences > Tags You can manage them even further.

Automatically group with smart folders

Smart folders are like saved searches that behave like a normal folder. They are used for group files according to criteria you define (type, date, name, tags, etc.), but without moving the files from their original location.

To create one, open Finder and go to File > New Smart FolderDecide if you want to limit it to the current location or This Mac complete.

Click on the icon "+" To add a search criterion. In the drop-down menus you can choose conditions such as Type, Name, Creation Date, Last Modification Date and many others (if you choose "Other" you will see more options).

Keep adding conditions until you clearly define what you want to appear there (for example, "Type is Image" and "Last modified within the last 30 days"). Then press SaveGive the smart folder a name, choose where it's saved, and if you want, check that it appears in the Finder sidebar.

From that moment on, Each new file that meets those criteria will automatically appear within the smart folder.This allows you to have dynamic views of your documents without duplicating or moving anything.

Customize icons, grid size, and desktop view

Organization isn't just about where things are, but also how they look. macOS lets you adapt the desktop appearance to make working more comfortable and visual.

From View> Show View Options On the desktop you can change the size of the icons (larger for better visibility, smaller to fit more), adjust the grid spacing To make the elements closer together or further apart, choose the text size and the position of the name.

You can also enable or disable the option to Align items to grid so they're perfectly organized, or leave them completely free to place as you please. If at any point things get out of hand, the menu View > Clean by It allows you to rearrange everything at once.

For more advanced Finder and desktop settings, go to System settings > Desktop and Dock or in Finder> PreferencesThere you decide which disks and items are displayed on the desktop, how the Finder sidebar behaves, etc.

Place important folders in the Finder sidebar

If there are locations you use daily (a projects folder, your working folder, a resources folder), ideally you should Add them to the Finder sidebar as favorites to have them just a click away.

Simply locate the folder in question, click on it, and drag it to the section. Favorites From the sidebar. When a horizontal line appears, release the mouse button. Done: from that moment on, you'll have a permanent shortcut.

This helps you keep your desk cleaner because you no longer need to have everything "in plain sight" there. Instead, you can Work from the Finder and access your key folders from the sidebar.

Use iCloud Drive and multiple desktops to gain order

To complete the organization, you can take advantage of features such as iCloud Drive and multiple desks macOS Spaces. They're not exactly desktop groups, but they do help reduce visual clutter.

With iCloud Drive you can sync folders like Desktop and Documents between multiple Apple devices. If you previously enabled this feature and then switched back to the local desktop, you might get the impression that icons “have disappeared”Actually, they're usually in iCloud Drive > Desktop within the Finder; simply drag them back to the local desktop if you prefer.

On the other hand, multiple desktops allow you to have, for example, one desk for work, another for leisure, and another for personal projectsThis is how you distribute windows and applications. You avoid having everything piled up in a single spaceTo improve the window arrangement, you can use the Window management with Magnet.

Clean up files, duplicates, and system clutter

Organizing is easier when there's less digital clutter. It's a good idea to review things from time to time. old files, installers, downloads and duplicates to free up space and make Finder run more smoothly.

macOS includes built-in tools to help you. Go to Apple Menu > System Settings > Storage and click on AdministratorIn the recommendations section, go to options such as Reduce clutter or review filesFrom there you can locate large files, forgotten downloads, apps that you no longer use, etc., and decide what to delete.

For duplicates, you can perform a manual cleanup, although it's usually more laborious. There are specialized applications capable of... Detect duplicate files, similar photos, and bulk capturesUsing them periodically prevents everything from becoming overloaded with unnecessary copies.

User groups for file sharing and permissions

On a different level than the desktop, macOS allows you to create User Groups to manage who has access to specific folders and shared resources. If you have multiple accounts on your Mac or work on a network, this can be useful.

By belonging to a group, several users share the same access privileges to folders and filesFor example, you can grant permissions to an entire group to view or edit a shared folder, instead of going user by user.

To create a group, go into user settings and tap the button Add groupGive it a name and press on Create groupThen you can add the users you want to that group. If you're going to share files or your screen, also check the settings for Share files, Share screen and Remote Management.

What to do if desktop icons disappear when using groups or stacks

Sometimes, when you touch Finder settings, turn on Stacks, or use iCloud Drive, you might get the feeling that The desktop icons have vanishedThey're usually still there, just hidden or in a different location.

Before you panic, try to restart FinderPress Option + Command + Escape to open “Force Quit”, select Finder, and click on RestartOften, this is enough.

If not, check the Finder settingsOpen a Finder window, go to Finder > Settings (or Command + comma) and on the General tab, select which items you want to see on the desktop (hard drives, external drives, etc.).

Also check if the Groups or Stacks They're enabled and grouping the files in a way that makes them unrecognizable. You can expand the stack/group with a click or temporarily disable these options to see if the icons reappear.

If you use Desktop and Documents in iCloud, look in iCloud Drive > Desktop within the Finder: often your files are there. As a last resort, you can resort to commands en Bus Terminal , the defaults write com.apple.Finder CreateDesktop true followed by killall Finder, or delete the Finder preference files (plist) so that they are regenerated with default values, although this is a more advanced measure.

Keeping your Mac organized is much easier when you combine Groups and stacks on the desktop, a good folder system, labels, and smart foldersAnd you dedicate a few minutes periodically to cleaning up old files and reviewing Finder settings; from then on, everything flows better and you stop wasting time looking for lost documents among a sea of ​​icons.