We’ve all been there, Desktop and Download folder absolutely covered with files and then it takes an hour or more to sort it.
What if i told you there was an easier way?
You can download Apps for Windows & Mac That will sort your files according to terms you pick. Such as file type, location, size… This can happen either when an App is downloaded or when you scan certain folders using the app.
Great, now what do I do? Download some of these programs and try them out yourself!
1. DropIt
DropIt was selected as number one mainly because it’s free, and it gives you the basics of automatic file movement. There are no “if” or “then” statements at play here, which I personally find quite handy for automatically sorting and renaming Photos.
To organize files, you need to create some rules and actions. You Right click the float icon and choose Associations then Click on the + button to create rules. You can drag/drop files & folders into the icon also to start processing them.
“You can define how to filter your files (by name, directory, size, date, properties, content, regular expressions) and associate one of the 21 available actions to perform (Move, Copy, Compress, Extract, Rename, Delete, Split, Join, Encrypt, Decrypt, Open With, Print, Upload, Send by Mail, Create Gallery, Create List, Create Playlist, Create Shortcut, Copy to Clipboard, Change Properties and Ignore)” – Dropit
Some other noteworthy features of DropIt are group association – e.g. one profile for work, one for home. You can also SPLIT and JOIN files or send files via Email using Dropit, which is pretty awesome
You can download DropIt here
2. File Juggler
File Juggler is free for 30 days then €47.00 after the trial expires. It probably is the most extensive on this list, so you would be better suited to at least try DropIt first, see how much it gets used then decide if you want to move to File Juggler.
Some of the features are moving files, renaming files, deleting files, organizing documents such as looking for keywords or dates in the contents of the files and then move/delete/rename them according to what it finds and where you specify to move it.
The layout might seem a bit ‘algebra’ at first but really, it’s quite simple. You set the folders you want to monitor, then “if” any of the following – file extension is pdf / doc / ppt / xlsx.. “Then” Move file to “Documents”
You can download the free trial of FileJuggler here
3. Easy File Organizer
Easy file Organizer is another freemium option with some unique features such as charts showing you how many items you’ve organized, their kind, amount, size, date etc.
You can sort files by kind, extension, size, date, including searching in sub-folders, using custom rules. One nice feature is organizing files into folders generated from the file name – Which comes in very useful for photos.
With Easy File Organizer you can set up multiple folders to be searched using the same filter. For example you have documents in your Documents folder, on your USB sticks & External Hard drives (Or want to save them to your External HDD) and also in your Downloads folder. You can then scan all of these directories automatically and put them wherever you want depending on filetype. So PDF’s could go into Documents/PDF and DOC files could go into Documents/
Another nifty feature is that all this is always reversible, so you can undo it if you can’t find something you just Downloaded for example.
You can download the free trial or buy Easy File Organizer here
Mac Option
“What about Mac” you say? Well, I’m actually using a ‘Mac’ and there (in my opinion) is only one option worth noting. It’s light weight, easy to use and un-obtrusive. It also gives a little popup every time it redirects a file, which is useful because you can click it and go straight to the file in Finder.
Hazel
This thing is a godsend for Mac users, as we all know Finder is a bit of a nightmare to navigate sometimes.
Hazel can do almost everything any of the above can, but it has some extras that are awesome, such as moving files depending on what site they were downloaded from.
Hazel can open, archive, tag and even upload. It will also delete your trash automatically after a certain time or if it’s over a certain size. Some of its other useful actions to note are: Spotlight integration, Photos & iTunes importing, Notifications, Tags, AppleScript & Automator.
So for example, if you download a mp3 or album, it can automatically import it into iTunes to a specific playlist depending on what you choose – for e.g. Artist name, genre etc.
Hazel costs €30, and a free trial can be downloaded from here