# Best practice to store files for media, pictures, links etc **URL:** \ **Category:** RootsMagic\ **Tags:** question, tip\ **Created:** [March 21, 2026, 12:08pm UTC](https://community.rootsmagic.com/t/best-practice-to-store-files-for-media-pictures-links-etc/15545 "2026-03-21T12:08:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![kevinm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/85e7bf/32.png) [@kevinm](https://community.rootsmagic.com/u/kevinm)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2026, 5:02pm UTC](https://community.rootsmagic.com/t/best-practice-to-store-files-for-media-pictures-links-etc/15545/21 "2026-03-22T17:02:45Z")
> [@Uniqua](#): > > ”One Big Folder” appears to be the way to go. It’s not so much about ”One Big Folder”. Rather a single, “top level folder” is important ; you can then have as many subfolders as you want. This approach helps with the - efficiency of the “Fix broken media links” tool - simplicity for media backups - the media folder settings and the associated relative links, especially if you use RM on more than 1 machine. ---
**Author:** ![Colin2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ba9def/32.png) [@Colin2](https://community.rootsmagic.com/u/Colin2)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2026, 5:18pm UTC](https://community.rootsmagic.com/t/best-practice-to-store-files-for-media-pictures-links-etc/15545/22 "2026-03-22T17:18:59Z")
So we could have “media” as the main folder, and then as many subfolders as you want, so for example within the “media” folder, you could have a subfolder, say “pictures”, and again within that folder a number of subfolder again, and so on. Presumably Roots Magic picks up on the main “media” folder, so it doesn’t matter how many subfolders you have within it. ---
**Author:** ![kevinm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/85e7bf/32.png) [@kevinm](https://community.rootsmagic.com/u/kevinm)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2026, 5:28pm UTC](https://community.rootsmagic.com/t/best-practice-to-store-files-for-media-pictures-links-etc/15545/23 "2026-03-22T17:28:38Z")
> [@Colin2](#): > > Presumably Roots Magic picks up on the main “media” folder, so it doesn’t matter how many subfolders you have within it. Correct, and you should define that top level media folder under Settings, Folders, Media folder. And if/when you need to fix broken links because something moved, you select option for “A selected drive or folder” and choose the top level “media” folder. The tool will go fast because it doesn’t need to search your entire disk looking for the filenames. ---
**Author:** ![Colin2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ba9def/32.png) [@Colin2](https://community.rootsmagic.com/u/Colin2)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2026, 8:01am UTC](https://community.rootsmagic.com/t/best-practice-to-store-files-for-media-pictures-links-etc/15545/24 "2026-03-23T08:01:43Z")
I use Mega Cloud for the majority of files, especially for pictures / photos database, but there are certain important files on my pc that I want to backup, and Roots Magic is one of these, whenever I make changes to the files, they are automatically backed up / changed in cloud, so everything is up to date. ---
**Author:** ![nkess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b3f665/32.png) [@nkess](https://community.rootsmagic.com/u/nkess)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2026, 12:24pm UTC](https://community.rootsmagic.com/t/best-practice-to-store-files-for-media-pictures-links-etc/15545/25 "2026-03-23T12:24:23Z")
That is great as long as they are ONLY backed up to the cloud AFTER YOU CLOSE OUT ROOTSMAGIC not while you are using it. ---
**Author:** ![kevync1985](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3be4f8/32.png) [@kevync1985](https://community.rootsmagic.com/u/kevync1985)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2026, 1:56pm UTC](https://community.rootsmagic.com/t/best-practice-to-store-files-for-media-pictures-links-etc/15545/26 "2026-03-23T13:56:18Z")
> [@nkess](#): > > hat is great as long as they are ONLY backed up to the cloud AFTER YOU CLOSE OUT ROOTSMAGIC not while you are using it. that is the part people sometimes miss or do not fully understand. One other note – most cloud back up keep some sort of versioning – the version history. The version history can eat up a noticeable chunk – at one point it was eating up over 200 GB for me on OneDrive (the db was only around 200mb at most at that time) ---
**Author:** ![Uniqua](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/da6949/32.png) [@Uniqua](https://community.rootsmagic.com/u/Uniqua)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2026, 3:43pm UTC](https://community.rootsmagic.com/t/best-practice-to-store-files-for-media-pictures-links-etc/15545/27 "2026-03-23T15:43:52Z")
I understand the process. Apparently for one particular RM file I have made an error. Several media files are missing from the RM file and the RM file does not report any missing links, but they are clearly present in the media folder. The restore from backup does not help either but the original file displays the absent media. I am resigned to using the compare file tool and migrate the missing media from the original file to the updated file. ---
**Author:** ![kevync1985](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3be4f8/32.png) [@kevync1985](https://community.rootsmagic.com/u/kevync1985)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2026, 4:24pm UTC](https://community.rootsmagic.com/t/best-practice-to-store-files-for-media-pictures-links-etc/15545/28 "2026-03-23T16:24:41Z")
> [@Uniqua](#): > > Several media files are missing from the RM file and the RM file does not report any missing links, this may be more about what you mean by “missing” – you mean the file(s) are _ **expected** _ but are not present AT ALL in the media gallery (at they are not attached to anything either. Those “expected” files are physically present in folder or subfolders – is that what you are saying ?? ---
**Author:** ![TeriMollison](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/user_avatar/community.rootsmagic.com/terimollison/32/2990_2.png) [@TeriMollison](https://community.rootsmagic.com/u/TeriMollison)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2026, 8:38pm UTC](https://community.rootsmagic.com/t/best-practice-to-store-files-for-media-pictures-links-etc/15545/29 "2026-03-24T20:38:08Z")
I initially started out storing all my media in separate folders located on my cloud for each family line. (I should note that I have RM set to “always keep on my computer” my entire genealogy folder.) The “main” folder was the surname, sub-folders by birth year and full name of the direct ancestor male, and within each generational “line” there would be sub-folders for “children of” (siblings/cousins of my direct ancestor), Census, Maps, etc. I’d add sub-folders within each person as necessary. This worked great until I started upgrading from RM 8 to RM10 to RM 11 when virtually all my links would break – except those that were inadvertently kept in a RM Media folder. So…now, while I still maintain my usual cloud folder structure for notes, spreadsheets, and assorted files that I don’t put in my RM database, I now put all my media in ONE RM media folder. It is much easier to point RM to that folder to sync media then having to point it to dozens of sub-folders housed elsewhere. I have my own naming structure that I try to follow when I name media, but I really try not to overthink it too much. For example: BR for birth, Bap for baptism, DR for death record, Grave for Gravemarketer, Obit for Obituary, MR for marriage (etc.) followed by the name of the person and their RM assigned identification number, followed by a brief source indicator. For example: “Obit Emerson Jethro Freeman-192 [newspapers.com](http://newspapers.com).” If I know the name and/or the RM number for the individual, it is very easy to search the file to find media related to that individual. Hope that helps. I wish I had done this from the beginning of my RM journey as it would have made upgrades MUCH easier. Have fun! ---
**Author:** ![kevync1985](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3be4f8/32.png) [@kevync1985](https://community.rootsmagic.com/u/kevync1985)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2026, 11:46pm UTC](https://community.rootsmagic.com/t/best-practice-to-store-files-for-media-pictures-links-etc/15545/30 "2026-03-24T23:46:21Z")
having ONE folder once you hit over 10,000 media might see a performance diff even on a fast computer SSD. Certainly by the time you get close to 20K ---
**Author:** ![Colin2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ba9def/32.png) [@Colin2](https://community.rootsmagic.com/u/Colin2)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2026, 8:25am UTC](https://community.rootsmagic.com/t/best-practice-to-store-files-for-media-pictures-links-etc/15545/31 "2026-03-25T08:25:02Z")
Hi Kevin, I think my thoughts are similar to yours, with “media” being the main folder, and sub folders within it, as the screenshot, do you think this is OK? ![Roots file folders](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/uploads/rootsmagic/original/2X/4/4bfd8c68e92df3d5df1bda51bcae3bcb89b2476d.png) ---
**Author:** ![kevync1985](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3be4f8/32.png) [@kevync1985](https://community.rootsmagic.com/u/kevync1985)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2026, 10:29am UTC](https://community.rootsmagic.com/t/best-practice-to-store-files-for-media-pictures-links-etc/15545/32 "2026-03-25T10:29:43Z")
yes Colin that should work also. You just have one more level. For consistency I would use 1701 vs 1700 (or do all 1700-1799 etc as 1801-1900 is not same century) – that is my nit pick. ---
**Author:** ![Colin2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ba9def/32.png) [@Colin2](https://community.rootsmagic.com/u/Colin2)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2026, 3:13pm UTC](https://community.rootsmagic.com/t/best-practice-to-store-files-for-media-pictures-links-etc/15545/33 "2026-03-25T15:13:36Z")
Thanks Kevin, good idea, thanks for the help, I can now start to add the media files to each entry, as I have a solid base to start from! ---
**Author:** ![Keith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f05b48/32.png) [@Keith](https://community.rootsmagic.com/u/Keith)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2026, 8:47pm UTC](https://community.rootsmagic.com/t/best-practice-to-store-files-for-media-pictures-links-etc/15545/34 "2026-03-27T20:47:29Z")
Hi Colin, I have over 5,000 media files (BDM, Newspaper ‘clippings’, wills, maps, photos etc) and possibly a further 5,000 to add. Some of these files I’ve had for over 30 years. I frequently come across material on the WEB and wonder “Have I already got that?”. To manage my data I created a ‘data dictionary’ with a naming convention for files along the lines of: TOPIC-YEAR-@LOCATION\_SURNAME-FIRSTNAME\_{relationship, eg so (son of …)}. For example, “BAP-1551@Howden\_Harrison Johannes so Robert of Berneby.jpg”, “PHO-1880\_Ancoats-Manchester\_Love Lane\_Looking Sth to Pollard St.jpg”, “CEN-1801-@Badgworth-Somerset\_Leonard Family.jpg”. This makes it very simple to check whether something exists, e.g., a search (across one or group of directories) for “BAP-1631, or even \*1631\*. I also have about 30 family group and topic (eg MAPS, HERALDRY, Churches) directories, to simplify adding material to Roots Magic. ---
**Author:** ![Spyder](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/user_avatar/community.rootsmagic.com/spyder/32/53_2.png) [@Spyder](https://community.rootsmagic.com/u/Spyder)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2026, 11:20pm UTC](https://community.rootsmagic.com/t/best-practice-to-store-files-for-media-pictures-links-etc/15545/35 "2026-03-27T23:20:35Z")
There is lots of discussion on this already in the Community chats but quickly my method is to store everything under the specific couple under one of my 4 grandparents names. At the high level I only have folders for direct ancestors with subfolders for their other descendants. File naming is always “Surname,FirstName\_bXXXX\_cXXXX\_sourceName\_location\_extraIfNeeded” ![image](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/uploads/rootsmagic/original/2X/8/83c703e19754a94a21dc46cd5d56e8b23fe03274.png) ![image](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/uploads/rootsmagic/original/2X/f/ffc0bfcf102b1d8a779452414f52abf37fa441ea.png) ![image](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/uploads/rootsmagic/original/2X/c/cb51dc812512cb9ec6ef95ef682b3ccb5146f039.png) ---
**Author:** ![kevync1985](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3be4f8/32.png) [@kevync1985](https://community.rootsmagic.com/u/kevync1985)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2026, 1:06am UTC](https://community.rootsmagic.com/t/best-practice-to-store-files-for-media-pictures-links-etc/15545/36 "2026-03-28T01:06:26Z")
> [@Spyder](#): > > There is lots of discussion on this already in the Community chats but quickly my method is to store everything under the specific couple under one of my 4 grandparents names. There is no _wrong way_ or _right way_ per say – one needs to decide that is right for them them – some suggestions – I get the logic but I one should try to not over-complicate things also. That can be a fine balance. The bottom line often is coming to naming of the actual files. (and avoiding using the same file name in multiple folders). One Main folder only works for so long and eventually one will likely want sub-folder structure – I resisted that for too long ---
**Author:** ![Colin2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ba9def/32.png) [@Colin2](https://community.rootsmagic.com/u/Colin2)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2026, 5:41am UTC](https://community.rootsmagic.com/t/best-practice-to-store-files-for-media-pictures-links-etc/15545/37 "2026-03-28T05:41:13Z")
Hi Kevin, I like your idea, as my database is relatively small, I want to get the structure right from the beginning, initially I have the “media” folder, firstly with subfolders, the titles will be increased to add more subjects: ![](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/uploads/rootsmagic/original/2X/7/787af3aff5c3f4dcd220c560e24bdaf62931491f.png) The above folders then had subfolders within them: ![](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/uploads/rootsmagic/original/2X/e/e8558faa87cb8636434703d8480bbf1dab59e163.png) But I think I will do away with the years subfolders, just focusing on the main folders, such as births, deaths, marriages etc., and use your naming structure, which will make it easy to see what you have. surname\_first names\_birth year\_subject Jones\_PeterJohn\_1853\_marriage That way, it keeps the folders structure simple, and it is easy to see what you have. Regards, Colin ---
**Author:** ![kevync1985](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3be4f8/32.png) [@kevync1985](https://community.rootsmagic.com/u/kevync1985)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2026, 1:25pm UTC](https://community.rootsmagic.com/t/best-practice-to-store-files-for-media-pictures-links-etc/15545/38 "2026-03-28T13:25:03Z")
My naming structure is similar — sort of include a ver of the gedcom tag in name - but I include more than year (unless census) ![image](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/uploads/rootsmagic/original/2X/2/2407d8db0a184cde275a723a67ecc7624e5abda7.png) ![image](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/uploads/rootsmagic/original/2X/e/e8744d1674aed48d7f96126a6acc2f12de08edd7.png) ![image](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/uploads/rootsmagic/original/2X/1/1c738b89c2d25dd29a709baa9908a1a9ed07619e.png) ![image](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/uploads/rootsmagic/original/2X/f/fe7e062f3ab0e2d97e3d555fc8281398fc732c9a.png) For head stones – I include two or more names ![image](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/uploads/rootsmagic/original/2X/6/653f9b35cbbc30405830e046fece5f7a86f7a30c.png) Marriage has changed over time (Date is now in middle) ![image](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/uploads/rootsmagic/original/2X/3/369983b8828cee8ea61252ea9db6beecdc0eab17.png) [Previous page](https://community.rootsmagic.com/t/best-practice-to-store-files-for-media-pictures-links-etc/15545.md?page=1)