Cabinets and folders
A cabinet is the home for one real-world thing. Folders live inside cabinets and keep related items together. That's the whole hierarchy — and that's deliberate.
Shallow beats deep
Deep nesting is where stuff goes to get lost. The pattern that works:
- One cabinet per thing — a cabinet for each pet, each vehicle, each property, each big project.
- Folders for the natural chapters inside it — "Vet records", "September trip", "Receipts 2026".
- Sets for everything that cuts across — don't create a "Pets" cabinet holding three pets; give each pet its own cabinet and make a "Pets" Set. Grouping is what Sets are for.
Every cabinet and folder has Lens tabs along the top (All / Media / Calendar / Tasks, with counts) so one container can hold mixed stuff and still stay readable — the photos when you want photos, the tasks when you want tasks.
How do I create a cabinet?
- Click the Add button (the accent + — top right on desktop, bottom-left on a phone).
- Choose Cabinet and give it a name that matches one real-world thing — "Molly", "The house", "2026 taxes".
That's it. You can also start from Cabinets in the nav — the same create affordance lives there, and it's where all your cabinets line up.
How do I put things inside?
- Open the cabinet, then use Add — the new item lands right where you're standing.
- Or just drag files onto the page — photos, videos, and documents upload straight into the cabinet or folder you're viewing, and each shows a tile while it processes.
- Create folders the same way (Add → Folder) for the natural chapters inside a cabinet — "Vet records", "September trip", "Receipts".
How do I move something I filed in the wrong place?
Open the item and use Move to pick its new home. Items you captured without filing wait in the Unfiled tab on the Cabinets page until you're ready to sort them — capture first, organize when it suits you.
Why can't I nest folders inside folders?
Deliberately. Deep trees are where stuff goes to get lost — you end up filing by guesswork and finding by luck. CleverSets keeps the hierarchy to two levels (cabinet → folder) and gives you better tools for everything deeper: Lens tabs slice one container by kind (All / Media / Calendar / Tasks), search finds things by what they are, and Sets group things across cabinets without moving anything. If you're reaching for a third level, you probably want a Set.
What's the difference between a cabinet and a Set?
A cabinet is where an item lives — every item has exactly one home. A Set is a grouping — an item can be in any number of Sets, and putting it in one never moves it or changes who can see it. One cabinet per pet; a "Pets" Set across them all.