How to Save Items to the Files App on Your iPhone

* This post is part of iPhone Life's Tip of the Day newsletter. . *

Saving items like notes, documents, and photos to the Files app on your iPhone can help you view and manage several things from one app. Here's how to save items to the Files app, which will help you stay organized. If you use Finder on your Mac, you'll notice that the Files app works in a similar way for your iPhone. By saving items to the Files app, you can use Files as a hub to view or share multiple things from this single app. With the Files app, you'll be able to save items to your iCloud Drive (after you've set up iCloud Drive) or a folder under On This iPhone. You may also want to use a USB drive to save your files from your Mac. If so, check out our article on how to safely eject a USB without corrupting your data. 

Related: How to Screen Share from Mac to Mac & Mac to iPhone & iPad

I'll be using a note from the Notes app for this example. To save an item to the Files app:

  1. When you want to save an item to Files, tap the Share icon (which looks like a box with an arrow on top).
  2. This opens the Share tab, next select Save to Files. You may have to tap the More icon (which has three dots on it) to select Save to Files.


     
  3. A screen will pop up and you can choose to store the item to iCloud Drive. If you previously created folders in iCloud Drive, they will appear after tapping iCloud Drive and you can then select the folder. Then tap Add.
  4. If you tap On This iPhone, you'll only be able to save the item to any folders already available (new folders can't be created under On This iPhone), then tap Add


     
  5. Now when you go to the folder in the Files app, you'll see your item has been stored.

Now you can save notes, documents, and photos to folders or the iCloud Drive in the Files app!

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Hallei Halter's picture

Author Details

Hallei Halter

Hallei is a 2018 graduate of Maharishi University of Management with a BFA in Creative & Professional Writing. She's currently working on a novel about people using witchcraft to clean their houses.