Ways to organize files on your desktop
The desktop takes up most of your screen, and it’s the area where you’ll do most of your work. If you keep files—documents, folders, and aliases—on your desktop, you can organize them to make it easier to find the items you need.
Organize items into folders
You can quickly group items on the desktop into folders. Select all the items you want to group, Control-click one of the items, then choose New Folder with Selection. (Locked items can’t be grouped.)
For more information about creating folders, see Organize files in folders.
Align and sort items
You can change the alignment and organization of items on the desktop. Click the desktop, choose View > Clean Up, or Clean Up By, then select an option. Or, choose Sort By, then select an option. For more information, see Align and resize icons.
Change item size, grid spacing, text size, and more
Click the desktop, choose View > Show View Options, then use the controls to make changes. You can also Control-click the desktop, then choose Show View Options. For more information about the view options, see Ways to view items in Finder windows.
For more ways to customize the desktop, see Give your desktop a custom look or Finder preferences.
Tip: If you turn on iCloud Desktop and Documents, you can get the same desktop items on another Mac by logging in with the same iCloud account and turning on iCloud Desktop and Documents on that Mac.