Learn Hardcore Indonesian: Di laptop, saya menyimpan kamus digital dan kalkulator dalam satu folder supaya mudah saya menyortir file belajar. - On my laptop, I keep a digital dictionary and a calculator in one folder so that it is easy for me to sort study files.

Di laptop ≈ on the laptop / on my laptop (computer). It sounds natural and casual.
Pada laptop is grammatically possible but feels more formal and is less common in everyday speech for this context.
Dalam laptop would literally mean inside the laptop (physically inside the machine), which is not what you want here.

So di laptop is the normal way to talk about things stored on a computer.

Why doesn’t the sentence say di laptop saya if it means on my laptop?

Indonesian can omit possessive pronouns when the context is clear.

If you are talking about your own laptop in a context where it’s obvious, di laptop is enough.
If you need to be explicit (for example, to contrast with someone else’s laptop), you would say:
- Di laptop saya, saya menyimpan… (On my laptop, I store…).

So saya is not required there; context usually tells whose laptop it is.

What is the difference between menyimpan and simpan? Why is menyimpan used here?

Simpan is the base form (dictionary form), and menyimpan is the active verb with the prefix meN-, which marks an active, transitive verb.

menyimpan = to store / to keep / to save (something)
- Saya menyimpan file di folder ini. (I store/save files in this folder.)
simpan:
- As a command/imperative: Simpan file itu! (Save that file!)
- As a bare verb in very informal speech or headlines.

In a normal declarative sentence like this, you should use menyimpan:
Saya menyimpan kamus digital dan kalkulator…

Do I need something like sebuah or beberapa before kamus digital dan kalkulator?

No article is required. Indonesian does not have obligatory articles like a / an / the.

You can say simply:

Saya menyimpan kamus digital dan kalkulator…
This can mean a digital dictionary and a calculator or digital dictionaries and calculators, depending on context.

You add words only when you want to be very specific:

sebuah kamus digital = one digital dictionary
beberapa kamus digital = several digital dictionaries
semua kamus digital = all (the) digital dictionaries

In everyday speech, people usually drop these unless the exact number or scope matters.

Why is it dalam satu folder and not di satu folder?

Both are possible, but the nuance is slightly different:

di satu folder = in one folder (focusing on location)
dalam satu folder = inside one folder (emphasizes being inside/within that container)

In many contexts, di and dalam can be interchangeable when talking about containers/places. Here:

…dalam satu folder sounds slightly more explicit about them being grouped inside a single folder.
…di satu folder is also acceptable and natural.

So the choice of dalam here is stylistic; it’s not a strict rule.

What does satu add in dalam satu folder? Could I just say dalam folder?

Satu literally means one, but it often functions like “a single”.

dalam folder = in a folder / in the folder (vague, could be any folder)
dalam satu folder = in one folder (emphasizes that they are together in the same single folder)

Here, satu highlights that the dictionary and calculator are grouped in one common folder, not split across multiple folders.

What exactly does supaya mean here, and how is it different from agar or untuk?

supaya introduces a purpose / result clause, similar to “so that / in order that”:

…dalam satu folder supaya mudah saya menyortir file belajar.
= …in one folder so that it’s easy for me to sort my study files.

Comparison:

supaya and agar:
- Very similar in meaning.
- agar is often felt as a bit more formal or written.
- You could say agar mudah saya menyortir… with almost no change in meaning.
untuk = for / in order to and usually followed by a verb or noun, not a full clause with a subject:
- …dalam satu folder untuk memudahkan saya menyortir file belajar.
- Here untuk is followed by memudahkan (a verb).

So in this sentence, supaya is natural and correctly introduces the purpose clause.

Is the word order supaya mudah saya menyortir normal? Could I say supaya saya mudah menyortir instead?

Both are possible, but they feel slightly different in emphasis and naturalness:

supaya mudah saya menyortir file belajar
- Literally: so that it’s easy I sort the study files.
- The emphasis is more on mudah (easy), as a general condition.
- This structure is acceptable but sounds a bit more formal or literary.
supaya saya mudah menyortir file belajar
- Literally: so that I easily sort the study files.
- Very natural, clear, and common in everyday Indonesian.

Most learners are safer with:

supaya saya mudah menyortir file belajar
or
supaya saya lebih mudah menyortir file belajar (so that it’s easier for me to sort…)

What is the role of mudah here? Is it modifying saya or menyortir?

Mudah means “easy” and describes how the action menyortir is experienced by the subject (saya).

Conceptually, it’s easy for me to sort the files.
Structurally, in supaya saya mudah menyortir file belajar, you can think of:
- saya = subject
- mudah = predicate (it is easy for me)
- menyortir file belajar = complement, the activity that is easy

It’s similar to:

supaya saya mudah mengerti = so that it’s easy for me to understand.

So mudah doesn’t “attach” grammatically to just saya or just menyortir; it describes the ease of that action for the subject.

What does menyortir mean exactly? Are there more common alternatives?

menyortir comes from Dutch/English sorteren/sort and means to sort / to classify / to filter, often used with files, items, or data.

Examples:

Saya menyortir email berdasarkan tanggal.
(I sort emails by date.)

Alternatives:

mengurutkan = to put in order (A–Z, 1–10, etc.)
mengelompokkan = to group, to categorize
mengatur = to arrange, to organize

In your sentence, you could also say:

supaya saya mudah mengatur file belajar (organize my study files)
supaya saya mudah mengurutkan file belajar (order my study files – if you mean by name/date, etc.)

menyortir is fine and natural in a tech / file-management context.

What exactly does file belajar mean? Why can belajar come after file like that?

file belajar is a noun + modifier structure:

file = files
belajar = study / the act of studying
file belajar ≈ study files / files for studying / study-related files

In Indonesian, a verb or another noun can follow a noun to function as a modifier, similar to English “study files, work documents, travel photos”.

Other examples:

buku belajar = study book / book for studying
video belajar = study video / educational video
alat tulis (alat = tool, tulis = write) = writing tools

You could also say:

file untuk belajar (files for studying)
file-file pelajaran (lesson files / course files)

But file belajar is short and natural.

Why isn’t there a plural marker in file belajar? How do I know if it’s plural?

Indonesian usually does not mark plural explicitly. Number is understood from context.

file belajar can mean:
- a study file
- study files
- the study files

To emphasize plurality, you have options:

Reduplication:
- file-file belajar = study files (plural emphasized)
Number words:
- banyak file belajar = many study files
- beberapa file belajar = several study files

In normal speech, file belajar is fine even if you mean several files; context does the work.

Is file and folder good Indonesian, or should I use berkas and map instead?

Both sets are used; the choice depends on context and register.

In everyday tech context, file and folder are extremely common and natural.
- file musik, file belajar, folder baru
In more formal, government, or older usage:
- berkas is used for files (especially documents).
- map is used for a physical folder (paper folder).

On computers, almost everyone says file and folder.
So your sentence is perfectly natural for modern digital context.

Is the whole sentence natural Indonesian? How might a native speaker also say it?

The sentence is understandable and acceptable, though the clause supaya mudah saya menyortir… is a bit on the formal/literary side in structure.

Very natural alternatives a native might use:

Di laptop, saya menyimpan kamus digital dan kalkulator dalam satu folder supaya saya mudah menyortir file belajar.
Di laptop, saya menyimpan kamus digital dan kalkulator dalam satu folder supaya saya lebih mudah menyortir file-file belajar.
Di laptop saya, saya menyimpan kamus digital dan kalkulator dalam satu folder supaya lebih mudah menyortir file-file untuk belajar.

Your original wording is fine for learning purposes; just note that supaya saya mudah menyortir… is the more typical order in everyday speech.