I rename each design I download with the designer name like this AllSorts_chicken. Each year I have a folder called 'Embroidery 2026' then subfolders for each month like 2026-01. Since you are renaming each file as you download them they are already in alphabetical order by designer. My computer is backed up constantly by IDrive which I subscribe to. I also use SewCat to catalog all my designs.

Hi Alice. I keep all the given names and add extra info on at the end. I store in folders by style and subject. Main folder: Christmas; subfolders: trees, stars, snowflakes, carols, Victorian, modern, etc. Just waiting for new storage. If I had my time again, I might group by designer or web portal especially as, after 20yrs some folks have had to close their sites for various reasons. so finding the source for attribution is getting quite difficult.

Thank you Ladies, After I asked this question it occurred to me that an app to do all that would be handy. I have started working on it.

Oh my gosh, Alice. I know I would love to have an app that actually made sense. Thank you for always aiming to help all of us that struggle at these things.

I have my designs divided into folders by subject... Christmas, Hearts, Gnomes, Fonts etc... I do have sub-folders in Fonts cuz I list them by name and designer... Even vinyl stuff has a few sub-folders such as key-rings, bookmarks etc...

A quick Google search suggests these apps: several dedicated embroidery design organizer apps exist, with top options including StitchBuddy, SewCat, Embrilliance, Bernina ArtLink, and Ink/Stitch, all offering features like searchable catalogs, previews, tagging, and batch conversion. These tools are consistently ranked among the best for managing large embroidery libraries, according to multiple 2026 software reviews. And 2stitchOrganizer.

Personally I have folders with genres. When I download I add tags to the name then organize by genre. However, I used to use a word document and put information about each design in it and it was easy to search but that was a long time ago. Now my problem is changing computers and not having all the files in one place. I put them in DropBox but the old computer had an issue and didn't up load them all. I'm currently in a mess with using the new computer (desktop is synced to old computer) and filing on the old computer. It's not sustainable and I need to fix it.

In the first folder (Embroidery-allsorts the the second folder in the first one the name of the design (Font chicken). That way if I have problems with the design I know where to go to get it fixed.