One common question I get from AOL users is locating files or email attachments they have downloaded. When an AOL user downloads email attachments, by default, they get buried in a sub-folder of the AOL folder. This tip will help AOL folks who have a hard time finding these files.
One easy way to quickly navigate to your AOL download folder is by creating a desktop shortcut…here’s how:
1. Double-click My Computer
2. Double-click the “C” drive (your hard drive)
3. Find your AOL folder and double-click on it (if you are using version 7.0 or greater, you may need to double-click on “Program Files” first). If you have installed the same version of AOL more than once, you will see AOL 5.0b, 5.0c, etc…click on the one with the latest letter)
4. Find the “Download” folder and RIGHT click on it
5. Click Send To –> Desktop as a shortcut from the menu
6. If you don’t have the previous option, you can RIGHT click and drag the folder to your desktop and choose the Create Shortcut Here option
Also, be aware that AOL will automatically compress many email attachments in a ZIP format. If you use AOL 7 or later, when you click on your Download folder shortcut, you will see the compressed file you downloaded, but you will also see a sub-folder of the same name. Double-click on this sub-folder to view the contents of the compressed file.
