How to Organize an iPod Touch

An unorganized iPod Touch can look really sloppy and unprofessional. Organizing your iPod Touch can make it much easier to find a specific song, app, or other piece of data that you've stored on it, as well as making your use of the device much more enjoyable.

EditSteps

1. 1
   Connect your iPod to your computer. Open iTunes.
   
   
   
2. 2
   Organize your music playlist first. When you go through your iPod, you usually look at your music before anything else. A cluttered playlist is unpleasant to the eye and can be frustrating if you're in a hurry to get the music started, such as before taking a walk or when getting on a crowded bus.
   
   
   
   • Make sure all songs are under the same artist. Place the featuring artist in brackets in front of the song name, not with the artist. This groups the song with other songs by that artist; otherwise, it would be considered a separate artist.
     • For example, it should be "Airplanes (feat. Hayley Williams)" by B.o.B, not "Airplanes" by B.o.B feat. Hayley Williams.
   • Find the correct album and album artwork that goes along with it. Wikipedia is a helpful website to use for finding the correct artwork.
   • Get the correct song information, such as year and genre. Again, Wikipedia can help. If you buy music from iTunes, they will usually provide everything, including the album artwork.
3. 3
   Organize your apps. This can be done both on iTunes, while your iPod is connected, by going to the Apps screen under your device. You can drag the apps to rearrange them. Alternately, you can do it directly on your device by tapping and holding an app until they start shaking and have a circled X on the top left-hand corner (Wiggle mode).
   
   
   
   • Drag an app over another to create a folder within those two apps. This can only be done if your iPod is using iOS 4.2 or higher. The folder name depends on the type of app inside (for example, two social networking apps will make the folder name "Social Networking"), but the name can be manually changed to something else. Each folder can hold up to twelve apps.
   • Group similar apps with folders. A common method is to place all games into folders and then arrange them into alphabetical order. For example, since one folder holds twelve apps, one could name the first folder "Games A-G" and put games starting with A-G into it, and so forth.
   • Arrange your apps into alphabetical order.
   • Install any app updates as soon as you check the App Store. A small update can fix a crashing issue and save you from further irritation.
   • Buy one of those 90-in-1 apps. These apps have several apps bundled into one. Most contain unit converters, document viewers, battery monitor, among others. After you install the app, you can delete any individual app of the same purpose. They are usually $0.99 or $1.99, but it's a small price to pay to keeping both your iPod and personal life organized.
   • Arrange your four most used apps onto the dock. This can be done by dragging the apps already on it onto a home screen and replacing them with other apps.
4. 4
   Delete anything you don't need anymore. Remove anything you don't need, use or like anymore, whether it's apps, songs, videos or photos, etc. This helps to maintain good organization and will also free up disk space for things you do want.
   
   
   
   • Delete e-mail you've read already. If you need to keep a specific e-mail, create a folder and move that e-mail into it.
   • Delete notes you don't need anymore. The Notes app comes pre-installed with the iPod and is great for taking short notes, but it can quickly become cluttered if you have too many notes.
     • Make it a rule to immediately delete lists once the tasks are completed or items purchased.
   • Save photos onto your computer and delete them off your iPod.
5. 5
   Finally, save your changes by syncing your iPod. You should also create a backup in case something happens in the future and you need to restore the entire iPod.
   
   
   

EditTips

• Owners of devices with iOS 4.2 or higher are advised to make folders. However, iOS 4.2.1 is the final release for iPhone 3G and 2nd generation iPod Touch.
• While on iTunes, arrange your playlist by name, artist, or time and delete any duplicate songs.
• A single cover can be used if album artwork is unavailable.
• Try to have at least two songs per album. It looks pretty ugly if an album only has one song.
• If you're concerned about privacy and/or security, set a passcode by going to Settings > General > Passcode Lock. For maximum security, make a long passcode instead of a 4-digit number and set it to lock it immediately.
• You can reset the home screen layout to default settings by going to Settings > General > Reset > Reset Home Screen Layout. This gets rid of created folders and arranges all apps alphabetically.
• Creating playlists can keep you organized and increase battery life as well. Make individual playlists for different tasks/events. For example, you could create a "Workout" playlist with upbeat songs. Oppositely, a playlist called "Relaxing songs" with slow, relaxing songs can be made.
• To delete apps, go into Wiggle mode and tap the X at the corner. This will remove the app from your iPod and delete any data associated with it, but it will not be permanently deleted. In case you accidentally delete an app, you can get it back by resyncing it to your iPod via iTunes.