Tidy up with "To tidy"

Let Filarr suggest a place for waiting files, remove exact duplicates, and clean up empty, dormant or badly named folders. Nothing moves without you.

On this page
Documentation sections

The To tidy page looks at your files and suggests how to put them away: a folder for the files waiting in your inbox, the obvious copy of a duplicate, an empty folder to delete. Filarr only suggests. Nothing moves until you click.

Everything is worked out on your device, from file names, dates, neighboring files and text already recognized. Nothing is sent anywhere.

Open the page

  • In the sidebar, under Folders, click To tidy. The count next to it tells you how many files wait.
  • On the Folders page, click the To tidy filter.
  • In the command palette (Ctrl+K), type "Tidy up my files".

Put away waiting files

Filarr treats as an inbox any folder whose name says so: Inbox, Downloads, To sort, Imports, and the same names in French. For each file waiting there, the Suggested place column shows:

  • a main suggestion, with a Move button and the reason ("follows invoice-013.pdf", "taken the same day as a photo in this folder");
  • or No obvious place, sometimes with other ideas after Or:, shown as small buttons with folder names.

To put a file away:

  • click Move to follow the main suggestion;
  • or click one of the folder names after Or:;
  • or click Choose… to pick any folder yourself.

The line disappears as soon as the file is put away, even while a sync is running. New suggestions, such as the ones learned from that move, show up a moment later.

To put several files away at once, tick them, then click Move as suggested. This button only moves the files that have a main suggestion: the files that only have ideas after Or: stay where they are.

The ⋯ button at the end of a line lets you tell Filarr that a file does not belong in a folder, or to stop suggesting that file.

Suggestions get better as you go

Filarr learns from the files you put away. After a first tidy-up, it suggests more folders for the files left, such as Contracts or Lisbon workshop 2026.

Remove duplicates

When a file waiting in your inbox is an exact copy of a file already put away, its line says so ("Exact copy of lisbon-tram.jpg, already in Photos") and offers Remove the copy.

Elsewhere in your folders, a card A duplicate file lists the copies, with the space you would get back:

  • Remove the obvious copy sends the copy that Filarr can pick safely to the trash;
  • Compare and choose opens the Duplicates window, where you pick the one to keep;
  • Ignore hides the suggestion.

Filarr reads each copy again right before it goes: only copies that are still identical move to the trash. From there, you can restore them.

When many files share the same size, Filarr first shows Look for duplicates, with the amount of data it will need to read. Click it to start the comparison.

Tidy up folders

The page also suggests what to do with some folders:

  • Empty folders: Delete sends them to the trash, Keep it leaves them;
  • Dormant folders, with nothing new for six months: Move it to "Archives" moves them to a folder named Archives, where they stay searchable. Let it sleep leaves them;
  • folders still called "New folder": Filarr suggests a name. Rename accepts it, Another name… lets you type yours;
  • files that look misplaced, because the rest of their series lives in another folder.

Undo

After each tidy-up, a message such as "1 file put away." appears with Undo for a few seconds, and Undo last tidy-up stays at the top of the page. Undo is meant to put the files back where they were: check the folder afterwards, and if a file has not come back, move it yourself (right-click, then Move). Copies and folders you removed are in the trash, where you can restore them: see Trash and restore.

Stop some suggestions

Click Stop suggesting… at the top right, then turn off the kinds of suggestions you do not want: a place for waiting files, a new folder for files that belong together, files that look misplaced, duplicates, empty folders, dormant folders, names for "New folder" folders. Restore everything, including dismissed suggestions brings them all back.