Before you can protect a collection, you need to know what it contains and where it sits. An inventory is the quiet foundation of every serious archive. It does not have to be elaborate. A single table, kept up to date, can reveal hidden risks, such as a precious set of photos that exists on only one old drive. If you have already started gathering files, as described in our guide on where to begin archiving your family's digital records, an inventory is the natural next step.

Why an Inventory Helps

Memory is unreliable. You may recall backing up the wedding photos, but not whether the copy went to the blue drive or the gray one. An inventory replaces guesswork with a record. It also helps other people, such as a partner or an adult child, to understand your system if you are unavailable.

Choose a Simple Tool

A spreadsheet is perfect, and a plain text file works too. The best tool is whichever one you will actually open. Keep the inventory file itself in your archive and include it in your backups, because an inventory that is lost along with the data is not much help.

Decide on the Columns

Start with a few essentials, and add more only if you truly need them:

Collection name: a short, clear title, such as Grandparents Letters Scans.
What it contains: one sentence describing the material.
Location of main copy: the device or folder where you work with it.
Locations of other copies: every backup, listed separately.
Format: the main file types, for example JPG, PDF or MP4.
Approximate size: a rough figure is enough.
Last checked: the date you last opened some files to confirm they work.
Notes: anything unusual, such as a password hint location or a known problem.

Never write passwords themselves into the inventory. Note instead where the password is stored, such as in your password manager.

Fill It In Step by Step

Walk through your folders and identify collections: groups of files that belong together.
Add one row per collection, filling in what you know.
For each, count how many separate copies exist. Be honest: a folder synced between two devices counts as one backup at best, not two.
Flag any collection with fewer than two copies, and mark the most valuable ones for attention.

Read the Inventory Like a Doctor

Once the table is filled in, look for patterns that signal risk:

Only one copy of something irreplaceable.
Collections stored on a device that is several years old.
Material in formats that are hard to open, which you can compare with the principles in our article on choosing archive-friendly file formats.
Items that were never checked, or have not been checked for a long time.

These observations become your to-do list. Tackle the highest-value, highest-risk items first.

Keep It Alive

An inventory is only useful if it reflects reality. Set a reminder to review it every six months. When you add a new collection, add a row. When you replace a drive, update the locations. A five-minute update after each change is easier than a large cleanup later.

If other people may need to find your files, give a printed copy of the inventory to a trusted person, or store it where they can reach it. Include a short note on where hardware is kept and who to ask for help.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need to list every single file? No. Group files into collections. Listing individual files is rarely practical for a home archive.

What if I do not know the size of a collection? Your file manager can show folder sizes. A rough estimate is fine, and you can refine it later.

Should I keep the inventory online? Keep a copy offline too. If the inventory contains sensitive details about where records live, store it securely.

Steps

Set up the columns: Create a simple table with columns for collection name, location, format, approximate size, number of copies and last checked date.
List each collection: Add one row for every group of files, such as wedding photos, tax records or home videos.
Review twice a year: Update the dates and copy counts on a regular schedule, and fix any collection with fewer than two copies.