6 tips for organizing user manuals

When you buy items like vehicles, appliances, garden equipment, or any type of electronics, they come with user manuals. Some come on paper, while others can be accessed online. These manuals are very important for understanding the operation and maintenance associated with the purchased product.

Quick and easy access is a must when you need information about the item. There are different schools of thought on how to organize user manuals. As with anything in life, what works for one doesn’t necessarily mean it will work for everyone. Think about the different options listed here and decide which idea or combination of ideas will work best for you.

You may be wondering why I suggest that a combination of ideas might work best for you. In the past, when I’ve talked about the first step in the organization process, which is putting similar items together, this concept is often how you should organize your user manuals. I’m still on board with the concept of putting similar items together, but possibly in different physical locations.

For example, all the manuals for the equipment I use outdoors are in a plastic binder on a shelf in my garage. Another example is that the manuals for my TV, DVD player, and cable TV are all together in the cabinet where my TV lives. So the concept of keeping similar items together is true, but in different physical locations. All the other manuals that I don’t access often are stored in hanging folders in my filing cabinet.

Check out the list below for options and tips for organizing your user manuals.

• Store manuals where you use the item for quick and easy access. This makes sense for vehicle manuals, since most people keep them in the glove compartment.

• Store paper user manuals in a hanging folder in your filing cabinet or cabinet. Use folder dividers for categories like appliances, outdoors, electronics, etc.

• Alternatively, you can store digital manuals and/or website links for digital manuals using the same categories you use for paper manuals, for consistency. Evernote is an application that works very well to store and organize files of all kinds, paper and electronic, and you will have access to them anywhere and anytime through a smartphone.

• Attach the receipt and mark the date of purchase and model number on the front for easy troubleshooting.

• When you replace the item, please recycle the old user manual.

• Keep all owner’s manuals that pertain to the house in a folder and place it on the kitchen counter when you move in after the house is sold.