> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.bowerlabs.ai/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Collections

> Group related artifacts by sample batch, experiment, project, or whatever structure matches how you work.

Collections are how you group related artifacts in Bower. You can think of them like folders on your drive — use them to organise by sample batch, experiment, protocol run, date range, or whatever structure matches how you work.

## What a collection is

A collection is a named group of artifacts (notes, attachments, and protocols). Artifacts can belong to more than one collection — adding an artifact to a collection doesn't move it, it just associates it.

Collections sit in your page tree on the left-hand side of the desktop app. You can nest them and reorder them.

## Creating a collection

<Steps>
  <Step title="Click New collection">
    In the top navigation, click **New collection**. Or click the **+** button next to Collections in the page tree.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Name the collection">
    For example: "Sample Batch 14", "February Field Samples", or "PCR Protocol Runs".
  </Step>

  <Step title="Press Enter" />
</Steps>

## Adding artifacts to a collection

* **Drag and drop** — drag a note or attachment from the main view into a collection in the page tree.
* **Bulk add** — select multiple artifacts with Cmd+click (Mac) or Ctrl+click (Windows), then use the bulk action menu to add them to a collection.

## Organising collections

Collections can be nested inside other collections. Drag a collection over another to nest it — useful for organising by project at the top level and sample batch within.

To reorder collections, drag them up or down in the page tree.

## Visibility

By default, collections are visible to all members of the workspace. You can override this on any individual collection from the **Share** dialog — restricting to specific people, or making it private to yourself. See [Sharing notes and collections](/organisation/sharing-artifacts) for the full Share dialog walkthrough, and [Workspace permissions overview](/workspaces-and-account/permissions-overview) for how per-entity privacy fits with workspace roles.

If you need strict data isolation between projects or teams, a separate [workspace](/workspaces-and-account/create-workspace) is the right level of separation.

## Searching within a collection

To search within a specific collection rather than the whole workspace, open the collection first, then use **Cmd+K** or **Ctrl+K**. Search results will be scoped to that collection.