The Windows Phone Start Screen is practically the mobile equivalent of a computer desktop screen, which is why one of the newly added features – Live Folders – naturally fits in. Starting with Windows Phone 8.1 Update 1, we now have the ability to create folders on the Start Screen – something that’s truly a basic feature on a computer. Here’s how:
1. On the Start Screen, tap and hold a Tile to select it, then drag it on top of another Tile until the latter expands into a folder and release. You now have a Live Folder.
2. To rename the Live Folder tap the ‘Name folder’ field, type in the name you want and hit Enter. If you forgot to give your folder a name when you made it you can always do it later. Simply tap on the folder tile to open it, then tap and hold the folder’s top bar until a text box appears. There you can type the name and then hit Enter.
3. The folder can be opened by simply tapping on it. It will expand its contents showing all included tiles, which you can access like any other tiles on your Start Screen.
4. To close a folder tap on the folder’s tile or press the Start button.
5. A Live Folder can be any of the 3 available tile sizes: small, medium or large.
6. You can unpin any of a folder’s tiles – it works just like for regular non-folder tiles. You can also select any tile from a folder and drag it anywhere you want on the Start Screen.
7. If you want to delete an entire folder, for now the only way to do that is either move all of the included Tiles outside of it or unpin them.
Live Folders can be used for so many things but the common denominator is to group similar Tiles so you can have a richer, but also better organized Start Screen. I use them to keep all my favorite Games together as well as my online feeds. How are you using Live Folders?
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