Both folders and collections help you organize and structure your digital assets, but they serve different purposes within your library workflow.
In short:
Folders are structured way to organize assets in the library backend and manage folder-level metadata and access.
Collections are manually curated assets for specific projects, campaigns, or themes, which can be presented directly to viewers in the frontend.
See here to learn more.
Key Differences at a Glance
Feature / Capability | Folders | Collections |
Primary Purpose | Hierarchical asset storage and backend structure | Thematic curation, project grouping, and presentation |
Frontend Visibility | Hidden from consumers (backend only) | Visible in the frontend consumer view (via the "Show in Media Library" toggle) |
Asset Relationship | An asset lives in exactly one folder at a time | An asset can belong to multiple collections simultaneously across different folders |
Metadata Curation | Folder-level editing: Apply metadata to all assets in a folder (with an option to include sub-folders) | Assets retain their metadata; collections group assets without altering their folder structure |
How They Are Managed | Created via the new menu in the library; selected via folder cards | Managed directly inside the collections section of the editing sidebar or via the backend Collections tab |
Sharing & Permissions | Folder-level access can be granted to specific internal collaborators | Can be shared internally or externally (with optional password and expiration protection) |
Folders: Backend Structure & Bulk Curation
Folders are ideal for establishing your primary repository structure.
Backend organization: Assets are filed into a standard folder and sub-folder hierarchy that remains internal to library editors and owners.
Folder-level metadata editing: You can select one or more folders and apply metadata across every asset inside in one step. Using the sidebar toggle, you can choose whether edits are also applied to sub-folders.
Granular access: Curators can grant user or team access to individual folders without granting access to the entire library.
Collections: Thematic Grouping & Sidebar Management
Collections allow you to pull assets from multiple different folders and present them as a curated set without moving or duplicating files.
Managed in the editing sidebar: When selecting one or multiple assets, open the collections section in the right-hand sidebar. From there, you can search for existing collections, remove assets, or create a brand new collection without opening a separate modal.
Visibility across selections: When multiple assets are selected, the sidebar displays which collections are shared across all selected assets and which belong to only some of them.
Frontend presentation: Curated collections can be made visible to consumers in guidelines or library pages by toggling on "show in media library" in the collection settings.