On Android it’s similar… On some apps(all?) you can’t save to the downloads folder. Like WTF? Downloads is where temp stuff goes you damn green buffoon!
As a long time Android user, this comment is not aligned with my experience at all
Well, has been like this on Android 10, 14 and now I’m on 15 so idk. Also searched online and Google says it’s a “security feature”.
Never seen this. Seems like you selected the option to only allow this app to save to specific folders?
Saving to desktop is insane behaviour and the OP just told on herself.
I agree, but I think the tone of the joke suggests that OP is at least somewhat self-aware
Rebuttal, with a physical desk you put things you need right now on top in the open. You wouldn’t grab something off the printer and put it into a drawer first, then reopen the drawer to get it out of your need it now.
The desktop is “right now” workspace. Why bother to put it into a folder whose only purpose is not to take things out of to put elsewhere? I could at least understand people who download direct to documents… but that still leaves a mess to clean up with installers and such.
Downloading to the desktop is not only sane, but more efficient.
Leaving everything on your desktop is a different conversation though.
I definitely would go ahead and put the printed document directly into a hanging file in my desk drawer if I could read/use the document without ever moving it like I can on a computer…
Somehow I’m doubting that you keep all your computer files in your download folder. You still have to move it. My way just makes it obvious it needs to be filled instead of leaving it on the junk drawer.
And the physical desk analogy still holds. Yeah you put it in a folder in the drawer, but it’s the wrong one. Unless you are specifying a custom filepath for each file, in which case, carry on.
Unless you are specifying a custom filepath for each file, in which case, carry on.
This one is correct. I always setup my browser to ask where to put each download, and then send it to the file it needs to live in. Usually have the “default” be the home folder so I can easily browse to the subsequent folder quickly. The browser doesn’t just get to decide where to put stuff or it would all be a mess eventually anyway.
Rock on, you are an inspiration to us all.
I just do everything out of my file manager. I use Krusader, which has twin panes and tabs.
You reminded me of this funny tweet
Desktop is for empty space so when you close everything it’s clean
I would expect nothing less from a filthy outlook user
Good god. Putting stuff in the desktop is a big yuck. Your desktop probably looks like your room.
If a cluttered desktop is a sign of a cluttered mind, what does an empty one signify?
Nan-in served tea. He poured his visitor’s cup full, and then kept on pouring.
The visitor watched the overflow until he no longer could restrain himself, “it is overfull, no more will go in!”.
“Like this cup,” Nan-in said, “your desktop is full of documents and shortcuts. How can I show you Zen unless you first empty your cup?”
Zen
I alternate between a cluttered and empty desktop.
Ride the waves
Right. Why have an easy to locate area to quickly access temporary files, amiright?
yeah like a downloads folder
Not every temp file is downloaded.
indeed, some are documents
The desktop is like the inbox of files, inbox-zero it and it’s a tidy place to keep things in focus until they’re sorted and filed away or deleted.
Can confirm.
Your desktop probably looks like your room.
What is “your room”? Which room?
The padded one.
That’s my comfort room
take it back
No
These days, replace “Documents” and “Downloads” with “the root folder of OneDrive”.
This drives me mad. I work on multiple projects, how the fuck can I organise things of its all in one folder! The interface to select a different folder is like 3 clicks away too.
Yeah, that is so fucking annoying. I never save anything there, yet it absolutely always suggests that. Fucking microsoft.
I am the opposite and I absolutely hate it when I have to work on someone’s laptop with cluttered desktop and folders. Mine only has a taskbar at bottom and clock widget at bottom right corner. All temporary files goes to downloads or to organised directories. What’s the point of having a nice wallpaper if you can’t enjoy it.
I’m the same way. I will tolerate no icons on my desktop. It’s widgets or nothin’.
Now, my physical desktop, on the other hand…
You do at least have some shortcuts on your desktop, right?
Otherwise, why have a desktop?
You can open a picture if you want to look at it
That’s what the super key is for, you hit the super key and start typing the name of whatever it is you want and hit enter just like a phone
So, what, remember the names of all the things I could want? Also, “just like a phone”?
Yeah like on a cell phone you type the name of the app and it shows up
Everything from start menu shortcuts. Much cleaner and nicer that way.
Edit: I am using KDE plasma so not the full screen start menu like in windows but the small box on bottom left with about 15 icons that I regularly use.
You do at least have some shortcuts on your desktop, right?
Not OC, but no, that’s what the taskbar is for, I use my iconless desktop as a space to drag windows around and multitask
What’s the point of having a nice wallpaper if you can’t enjoy it.
That’s what the aecond monitor is for
The cursed Linux alternative of this is usually putting things directly in the home folder – I used to do this until I got better. Desktop is simple to keep clean when you don’t have one in your “desktop environment” by default.
Some people who’ve used MacOs before OSX dump everything to the root filesystem out of habit. It works just as poorly as a file management strategy as one might expect, albeit better than putting everything on the desktop. Not sure how often that happens but I’ve known multiple people to do that.
For some reason I hate the idea of just dropping everything in the Home folder, yet Downloads just ends up becoming exactly that anyway lol
Least cluttered Windows Desktop:
Pffff, if you don’t attach to the grid you got way more space for files.
Gotta arrange by penis
Nice. It’s girth will grow for each new file saved.
If anybody needs me, I’ll be here for the next half hour or so.
…there’s no “sort by penis”…
Can you sort this by penis? Internet Explorer needs to be at the tip or I won’t be able to find it.
Thank you so much for this, setting this as my wallpaper right now.
You’re welcome!
Aww, I love TWID! Thanks for the reminder, haven’t watched it in awhile
Same here.
Man, zooming in and looking at these icons was like a blast from the (not too far) past.
Oh, that’s easy to clean up. Just open explorer, go to desktop, Ctrl+A, Ctrl+X, make a new folder called 2025-Jan, and then inside of that folder, Ctrl+V. Problem solved, forever.
Where was that file? Oh, My Documents/Old Desktops/2023 November/2023 April/2022 December. Of course.
pokemon blue, nice
Where’s Bonzi Buddy?
There is a folder in my (Linux) desktop called “Old Desktop”
There’s a folder inside “Old Desktop” called… “Old Desktop”.
I have the same but with the whole home directory.
/home/user/old_home/old_home/old_home
Are you me? Haha recently I went looking through them and was appalled. Not enough to actually do anything about it though.
Everything downloads to the desktop, that way it’s in my face so I have to deal with it.
The clutter on the desktop annoys me into cleaning it up, but I’ll ignore a downloads folder once I’ve grabbed whatever I just downloaded.
you are the first person i’ve know to also do this! it really does help
I do this too. I do not like anything on my Desktop, but I download files to there, which forces me to deal with them. Interestingly enough, my Downloads directory is a barren wasteland.
But… You can just download things to their deserved spot in the first place?? Why the extra step
A lot of stuff don’t have a spot. And no, I’m not putting that meme template I will need for 5 minutes into the tmp folder, I’m not insane.
Desktop is my temp space. There are files with a very limited shelf live (logs I downloaded to search something, screenshots, …) so I have to clean them up on a regular base before my desktop becomes too crowded and I get annoyed.
That requires effort up-front every time I click download.
I’d rather just click ‘download’ and let it go to an easy to find default location. The desktop means I won’t just forget about it for months. It may sit there for a day or two, but it definitely won’t get ignored the way a folder I rarely look at does; because the clutter right in my face annoys me into cleaning it up.
Working around/against my own procrastination.
This is some Window level joke. BTW, I put my configs in home directory.
You monster! They belong in ~/.config
I find it hard to believe that Lauren, who saves everything to the Desktop, is dabbling with Office config files.
You probably keep the files she’s referring to in your Documents, Downloads, etc. folder within your home directory too.
Holy Shit.
People who save files on the desktop deserve to use Windows.
Microsoft: put it in OneDrive. We will use your content to train our AI models. No really this is fine.
Also Microsoft: If you ever try to leave us we will delete all of your data on all of your devices. We might even do it at random just for fun…No, we won’t warn you.
I love the random deletetion. They deleted a whole year of my university notes just because.
Drag has one thing on the desktop.
Space Cadet Pinball.
The only thing one really needs.
I’d be happy if those apps were asking to save to Documents like in the screenshot. But alas, reality is much more cruel. They always want to save to some vague OneDrive location, and won’t even show you the local file browser without extra steps.
If yOU dOn’T uSe oNEdrIvE iT is IMpOssiBle to AuTO sAve! The technology just doesn’t exist to save on a timer without involving the cloud!
Documents, Desktop and Picture folders are just moved from the user folder into the user folder\OneDrive folder.
Other than that it work exactly the same.
OneDrive also always has a local folder. Usually in your user folder.
You can blame a lot on OneDrive, but this isn’t one of them.
I don’t want any of my files uploaded to OneDrive; therefore I don’t want to save them in the OneDrive folder. I have other folders where I’d like to save my files instead.
So the behaviour I described is a persistent annoyance for me; despite you telling me it isn’t a problem.
I don’t mind OneDrive sync, I like it honestly.
What I absolutely do not want, is my Desktop on One Drive. For starters, its often a scratch place. I don’t want it instantly pushing 6GB of photos I just pulled off my camera’s memory card to the cloud before I can sorr them.
You see, I have OneDrive disabled and set to not sync.
It still wants me to save to a OneDrive directory, simply because I’m signed into my Microsoft account.
F12
This one guy at work has 3 layers of desktop icons. LAYERS. I don’t know how he manages.
L- layers??
icons on icons on icons as there is no blank space left.
On Windows? AFAIK Windows eventually just gives you a “no space on desktop” popup… Never seen any layering.
Yep. Dealt with that mess today.
“Sir, please. I’m begging you. Use a folder. Just one single folder.”
“THOG NO LIKE COMPUTER! THOG SAVE TO DESKTOP!!!”
This is why you people aren’t allowed access to printers anymore.
It’s not because people kept printing their emails 40" wide on the plotter? TIL.
