Combining Folder Contents in Windows Explorer

This is a little unusual request and not exactly what it sounds like. Take my music folder, in this instance. I have multiple folders dedicated to each artist that composed the song. So, for example, a song by Group 1 will be in a different file location than a song by Group 2. Here's an example:




My goal is to, in any way possible, find some way to view all of these files in Windows Explorer without having to keep them all in the same folder (file location). I'm trying to do this because, sometimes, I want to organize all of my music by a certain tag (such as Rating, Bitrate, Genre or Mood). However, I don't want to put them all into one folder (thus changing their file location) because then, whenever I need to reference specific songs for an application or just when I'm looking for a specific song rather than trying to organize them by a certain tag, keeping them all in one folder becomes miserable (since I have THOUSANDS of songs).


I tried using a library file, but I obtained the following result:





However, as you'll notice, they're separated by folder. No matter what tag I decide to organize them by (as you can see "Contributing Artists" and "Album" tags to the side) they'll still stay confined to their respective folders. I just want some way to view all of my files in one list and be able to organize them all by various tags without having to keep them all in the same folder (in Windows 8.1 Explorer). That's all there is to it, and I don't know how. If you can provide any way to help, I would be very grateful.

find some way to view all of these files in Windows Explorer without having to keep them all in the same folder (file location).

Click to expand...

1. You want to create a new folder, name it whatever you would like. This is the folder where you will be able to view all of these files.
2. Go to the folder where some of your files are, select them all>right click>create a shortcut. The new shortcuts will be created in the same folder. Move these shortcuts to the recently new folder we created.
3. Repeat step 2 with your other files.
4. Add your new folder to Windows Favorites or Libraries if you chose to.

The files will remain in the same location that you currently have them, but now you have a folder with shortcuts that will give you the illusion of having all the files in one place. There are media players that will do a better job at creating or organizing all of your music via bpm, artist, genre. If you want to do this in Windows Explorer though this is one way to do it.

The best way to do this, is a database software, or use Windows Media Player to organize the albums, songs and artists.

I like the shortcut idea, chris1neji