Can You Put One File into Two Folders?

[ChrisBryant]

For instance, I have a PDF of a book whose subject matter is interdisciplinary, e.g., Philosophy and Physics. Can I somehow put the same file into two folders? If I merely duplicate one file so there are now two, the changes I make in the one (highlighting, etc.) won't be altered in the other. Then, months later, when I go to look for the file and open it from Philosophy rather than Physics, there won't be any of the corresponding changes I saved from when I originally opened it in the Physics folder, months earlier.

Does this make sense? (Please don't suggest I make a Philosophy of Physics folder. Thank you.)

 

[NoBoMac]

Aliases and or symbolic links.

From Finder, select the file, Finder > File > Make Alias. Drag the alias (and rename if want) to other location.

Symbolic links, from a Terminal:

cd /to/a/folder
ln -s '/path/to/the/file.pdf'

 

[ChrisBryant]

I knew none of that. Thank you.

 

[jchap]

To add to what NoBoMac said above, the easier way without using Terminal to create an alias of the file you want is to hold down Option+Command, click and then drag the file to the new (second) location.

The alias is much like a shortcut. This will give you access to the original (source) file from that alias, without the need to create and manage duplicates. You can actually change the name of the alias to something else, move it to a different file or folder and so on, and it will still point you to the source file when you double-click on it.

 

[Mr.Blacky]

Or you can just tag it.

 

[jchap]

Or you can just tag it.

How would tagging the file help the OP's original requests and needs, which were to:

1. put the same file into two folders
2. reflect the changes they make in the one (highlighting, etc.) in the other

?

 

[jchap]

Aliases and or symbolic links.

From Finder, select the file, Finder > File > Make Alias. Drag the alias (and rename if want) to other location.

Symbolic links, from a Terminal:

cd /to/a/folder
ln -s '/path/to/the/file.pdf'

I've always been a little fuzzy on the difference between aliases and symbolic links in macOS, so I just looked it up and found a nice little explanation here at lifewire.com. It seems like symbolic links are a lot more specialized and require more work to create and handle, even though they might be useful for file version control.

 

[iStorm]

How would tagging the file help the OP's original requests and needs, which were to:

1. put the same file into two folders
2. reflect the changes they make in the one (highlighting, etc.) in the other

?

The idea would then be to use smart folders to show the file(s) with that tag. But yeah, it doesn’t really help if the OP is wanting to use existing non-smart folders.

 

[jchap]

The idea would then be to use smart folders to show the file(s) with that tag. But yeah, it doesn’t really help if the OP is wanting to use existing non-smart folders.

That is an interesting idea, though. I've used that trick to identify "work in progress" folders, so that I can use Smart Folders in Finder to easily isolate the work in progress I need to take care of on any given day. (I've also tied that to an Alfred workflow, so that I can just hit Option+Space, type "ip" and Return and bang!—there are my tagged folders.) ?

 

[Mr.Blacky]

How would tagging the file help the OP's original requests and needs, which were to:

1. put the same file into two folders
2. reflect the changes they make in the one (highlighting, etc.) in the other

?

One tag "Philosophy", one tag "Physics", than use both tags on one file. And there you have it: The same file in a Philosophy "folder" and a Physics "folder".
Isn't this a perfect use case for tags?

 

[jchap]

One tag "Philosophy", one tag "Physics", than use both tags on one file. And there you have it: The same file in a Philosophy "folder" and a Physics "folder".
Isn't this a perfect use case for tags?

Oh, I see—you would be using tags as virtual "folders," then. Interesting idea, and a novel twist in thinking!

If the OP isn't married to the idea of keeping two separate Finder folders for "Philosophy" and for "Physics," it would be a good way to at least label and categorize the file, and then find it later using the tags in the Finder sidebar. They could even type "tag: Philosophy" into the search/Spotlight field in Finder, and it would bring up the file.