6 tips for organizing user manuals

When you buy items like vehicles, appliances, garden equipment, or any type of electronics, these come with user manuals. Some come on paper, while others can be accessed online. These manuals are very important to understanding the operation and maintenance associated with the purchased product.

Quick and easy access is a must when you need information about the article. There are different schools of thought on how to organize user manuals. As with anything in life, what works for one does not necessarily mean that it works for everyone. Think about the different options listed here and decide which idea or combination of ideas will work best for you.

You may be wondering why I am suggesting that a combination of ideas may work best for you. In the past, when I talked about the first step of the organizing process, which is putting similar items together, this concept is often how you should organize your user manuals. I still agree with the concept of putting similar items together, but possibly in different physical locations.

For example, all the manuals for the equipment I use outdoors are in a plastic folder on a shelf in my garage. Another example is that the manuals for my television, dvd player, and cable television are all together in the cabinet where my television lives. Therefore, the concept of holding similar items together is valid, but in different physical locations. All the other manuals that I don’t frequently access are kept in hanging folders in my filing cabinet.

See the list below for options and tips for organizing your user manuals.

• Store manuals where you use the item for quick and easy access. This makes sense for vehicle manuals, as most people keep them in their glove compartment.

• Store paper user manuals in a hanging folder in your filing cabinet or cabinet. Use dividers in the folder for categories like appliances, outdoor, electronics, etc.

• Alternatively, you can store digital manuals and / or website links for digital manuals using the same categories that you use for paper manuals, for consistency. Evernote is an application that works very well for storing and organizing files of all kinds, paper and electronic, and you will have access to them anywhere and at any time via smartphone.

• Attach the receipt and mark the purchase date and model number on the front for easy troubleshooting.

• When you replace the item, please recycle the old user manual.

• Keep all owner’s manuals that belong to the house in a folder together and put the folder on the kitchen counter when you move in after the sale of the house.