AutoShelf Lifetime – Watch your folders and auto-organize files with simple rules, templates, and multi-condition matching
App Name: AutoShelf Price: Free (1 rule) / $19.99 one-time Pro unlock Mac App Store: https://apps.apple.com/app/autoshelf/id6762361021 Website: https://useautoshelf.com Hey everyone! I'm the developer of AutoShelf. I built it because my Downloads folder was always a mess and I got tired of manually sorting files. AutoShelf watches your folders and organizes files automatically based on rules you define. Pick a folder, set a condition, choose an action. Done. Conditions (7 types): File type, extension, download source, downloading app, filename, date added, file size Actions (8 types): Move, copy, trash, rename, tag, archive to ZIP, optimize images Built in templates (one click setup): - Organize Downloads by file type - Auto trash DMGs and installers - Clean Desktop (archive old files) - Sort by Source (GitHub → Developer/, Slack → Work/) - Organize Screenshots, Sort Music, Tag Large Files, Auto trash ZIPs Other features: - Multi condition rules with AND logic - Confirmation mode: review before actions - Image optimization (compress JPEG/PNG, strip metadata) - Import/export rules - macOS 13 Ventura+ - Lives in your menu bar, always running What's coming: - Multi actions (chain move + rename + tag in one rule) - Rule creation wizard - File conversions (HEIC → JPG, MOV → MP4, WAV → MP3) - Cloud storage uploads - Auto downloads (RSS, URLs, scheduled fetch) Feature requests welcome: https://useautoshelf.com/support?category=feature-request Happy to answer any questions!
Collected discussion
Congrats. Why would one choose this over Hazel?
Hey! Great question. Here's why someone might pick AutoShelf: AutoShelf is less than half the price of the main alternative. Simpler onboarding. Templates get you running in one click. Hazel has no templates and requires building rules from scratch. Modern, user friendly interface. Built with SwiftUI for macOS Ventura and up. Hazel has a more dated UI. Image optimization. Built right in. Hazel doesn't handle image compression. Lightweight and responsive. Hazel is the veteran and has more edge case handling built up over 15 years. If you need that depth, it earns its price. But if you want something simpler, more user friendly, and responsive that just works for the common cases, AutoShelf is a modern take on the same idea. Thanks for the question!
Thanks explaining.
Thanks. Just to clear things up a bit: Hazel is not a subscription. The answer could be taken as implying that it is. Hazel is also the work of a solo developer. So this one is a wash. 2 and 4 are the real differentiators, and should be of value for some users. Good luck with your app.
Folder watching with complex rules usually eats CPU. How are you doing the monitoring without turning into a battery killer?
That's a fair concern. Here's the honest answer: AutoShelf uses macOS's DispatchSourceFileSystemObject which is kernel level and already very efficient. It only fires when the file system actually changes, so there's no polling. On top of that, there's a 500ms debounce that batches rapid events together before processing. That said, there are no advanced battery optimizations in place yet. When paused, the watcher stops processing but the DispatchSource itself still runs. Idle detection, smarter polling when on battery, or pausing the source entirely are all things I want to address. Some Upcoming Plans might include: - Pause the DispatchSource entirely when AutoShelf is paused, not just the processing - Idle detection to reduce activity when the system is sleeping or on low power - Batch multiple rapid events per folder before triggering a single scan For now, with 1-10 folders watched (the intended use case), the impact should be negligible. But I take battery seriously and want to make sure it's not a concern. Thanks for the thoughtful question!
Hey everyone! v1.6 is officially live, packing some of your most requested features and a bunch of quality-of-life improvements. Here is the quick breakdown of what’s new: Direct to Photos: Send photos and videos straight to your Photos library. Nested Folder Watching: Deep folder structures are now fully supported. "Files Only" Toggle: A new checkbox on rules lets you skip folders entirely, ensuring cleanup rules won't mess with your subfolder structure. New Conditions: Added Last Opened and Last Modified. "Any Item" Condition: A catch-all condition that matches every file with zero configuration needed. Rules Fix: Fixed an issue where rules could fail to load after an update. Localization: The app is now available in 19 languages. Huge thanks for all the feedback and feature requests that helped shape this update. Let me know what you think!
Hey not sure what Free (1 rule) mean?
A rule is the instruction AutoShelf follows to organize your files. Every rule has 3 parts: Folder – which folder to watch (like your Downloads folder) Condition – what to look for (like "file type is image" or "file extension is .dmg") Action – what to do when it matches (like "move to Pictures folder" or "trash it") For example: "Watch Downloads → IF file is .dmg → move to Trash" That's one rule. You can create as many as you want to handle different scenarios. The free tier lets you create 1 rule to try it out.
Any plans for a CLI?
I am considering this but not in near future. If people wants of course I might change some plans and prioritise this. How would you like to use it in CLI?
Do the rules survive a reboot or do you need to relaunch manually from the menu bar?
Hey thanks for asking! Of course they survive and app launches as you reboot your mac and silently lives in your menubar. Let me know if you have more questions!
wow this is so cool! thanks so much!
Hehe thank you!
I think this would be a half price alternative to other folder sorting apps out there
That's exactly the goal! Not trying to be a Hazel clone, just a cleaner, simpler option that covers what most people actually need without the $42 price tag. Glad it resonated with you.
The feature I’d make very visible is confirmation mode. For watched-folder apps, people usually trust simple rules until the first time a file moves somewhere unexpected. I’d want the review screen to show: original path -> proposed path the exact rule and condition that matched whether it will move, copy, rename, tag, archive, or trash collision handling before apply skipped files and why they were skipped one-click undo for the last batch exportable rule/action history Templates are a good differentiator versus starting from a blank rule builder. But the real trust builder is showing users why each action fired before the folder watcher starts changing files in the background.
anyone really getting something ou of this category of apps? i felt it‘s still a graveyards, maybe a better organized one. interesting, lots apps in this cat lately.
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You mean as condition? If last opened/modified in N days -> Do this? Sounds like a neat idea, added to my list! Thanks!
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Thanks a lot!