Over the course of time, you may find that you're no longer using a library – perhaps you're just content to navigate directly to the folder or you place the folder in your Favorites. You can delete the library quite simply. It's important to note that deleting the library does not delete the folders or files that the library contains. Since a library is essentially a container that points to the original files, deleting the library removes this container but leaves the original files and folders in their existing location. A list of available libraries is shown in the following figure. (See Figure 1.)
Figure 1. Available libraries.
If you want to delete a library, say the Spreadsheets library, it's a simple matter of right-clicking the Spreadsheets library in the left pane and clicking Delete from the Context menu. The library is deleted, but the folders and files to which it pointed still remain intact.
You will be prompted with a confirmation message asking if you're sure you want to delete the library. Clicking "Yes" will cause the library to be deleted; clicking "No" will leave the library intact.
Remember that deleting a library does not delete the files and folders contained within the library. This is because libraries are simply symbolic collections of files and folders.
This tip (11991) applies to Windows 7.
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2015-02-10 11:28:28
Barry
MWilson,
I think libraries are cool because you can have them point to multiple places. So instead of having a shortcut for "Project 1 docs", another shortcut for "Project 2 docs", etc., you can put all your separate project folders in one "Projects" library and it will likely be easier to navigate to the one you want (not to mention the freeing up of real estate). There are probably other advantages, too, but I'm in a hurry right now...
2015-02-09 22:54:34
MWilson
I'm trying to understand the advantages of using Libraries.
What does a library do for me that folder shortcuts won't or can't do?
2015-02-09 11:11:18
Dr_Tek
Yeah!!! Trying to figure out what Libraries is/does has been a major source of confusion for my parents, and dealing with not going directly to a source folder has been a point of contention for me.
Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!
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