Editing File Properties

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated February 22, 2021)

Every file stored on your hard drive has associated with it a set of properties. These file properties indicate characteristics of the file, such as whether it is read-only hidden. The file properties can also provide information about the file, such as how much disk space it uses and what program it is opened with.

In order to change those file properties you are allowed to change (some, such as file size, cannot be changed directly), you need to display the Properties dialog box for the file. The normal way is to simply right-click on the file and choose Properties from the resulting Context menu. (See Figure 1.)

Figure 1. The Properties dialog box for a file.

The number of tabs and properties displayed in the dialog box will differ for different types of files. (You can also click the Advanced button to see additional file properties.) You can modify some properties displayed in the dialog box while others are for your information only. Making changes to properties can affect how the file is treated by Windows or by other programs. For instance, some searching programs allow you to search based upon information stored in a file's properties.

 This tip (12986) applies to Windows 7, 8, and 10.

Author Bio

Allen Wyatt

With more than 50 non-fiction books and numerous magazine articles to his credit, Allen Wyatt is an internationally recognized author. He is president of Sharon Parq Associates, a computer and publishing services company. ...

MORE FROM ALLEN

Printing a File List

It is often helpful to have a list of all the documents in a given directory or folder. Word doesn't have a built-in way ...

Discover More

Viewing Your Work Full-Screen

Want to use the maximum space possible for displaying information on screen? You'll want to learn how to use the ...

Discover More

Working with Elapsed Time

Work with times in a worksheet and you will eventually want to start working with elapsed times. Here's an explanation of ...

Discover More
More WindowsTips

Filtering a Folder's Content

If you have lots of files on your computer, it is helpful to filter the files to more easily find a specific one. When ...

Discover More

Copying Data with XCopy

XCopy is a file and directory copy utility built into Windows. If you have a lot of file management to do that can't ...

Discover More

Breaking a Network Drive Mapping Association

Windows makes it easy to break the association between a network drive and its assigned letter. This tip explains how.

Discover More
Comments

If you would like to add an image to your comment (not an avatar, but an image to help in making the point of your comment), include the characters [{fig}] (all 7 characters, in the sequence shown) in your comment text. You’ll be prompted to upload your image when you submit the comment. Maximum image size is 6Mpixels. Images larger than 600px wide or 1000px tall will be reduced. Up to three images may be included in a comment. All images are subject to review. Commenting privileges may be curtailed if inappropriate images are posted.

What is 8 - 5?

There are currently no comments for this tip. (Be the first to leave your comment—just use the simple form above!)


Newest Tips