Clean up a messy downloads folder

Gather what piles up in your downloads, let the To tidy page suggest a place for each file, remove the copies, and keep it clean afterwards.

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Everyone has one: a folder where downloads, scans and screenshots pile up, with names like document(1).pdf or IMG_2041.jpg. Alex's is called To sort. Instead of opening each file and wondering where it goes, she lets the To tidy page do the first pass: it suggests a folder for each file, spots the copies, and nothing moves until she clicks.

In this tutorial you empty such a folder, then set things up so it stays manageable. At the end, To sort is empty, each file is in its place with a name that says what it is, and the copies are gone.

Before you start

  • Time: about 15 minutes.
  • Some folders already sorted, so Filarr has places to suggest. With Alex's files, import all eight folders as shown in Try Filarr with sample data: To sort holds six badly named files.
  • The desktop app if you can: there, Filarr also uses the dates of your photos to suggest a place. The web app works too.

Step 1: Gather the mess in one folder

  1. Create a folder named To sort, or Downloads, or Inbox. The name matters: Filarr treats a folder named this way as a waiting room for files to put away.
  2. Open it, click Upload Files, and select the files of your downloads folder.

With Alex's files, To sort is already there. To see how Filarr handles copies, also import one of the photos of the Photos folder into To sort, as if you had downloaded it twice.

See Add files to Filarr.

Step 2: Open To tidy

In the sidebar, under Folders, click To tidy. The number next to it tells you how many files wait.

Each file has a line. The Suggested place column shows either a main suggestion with a Move button, or No obvious place, sometimes followed by other ideas after Or:. Everything is worked out on your device. See Tidy up with "To tidy".

Step 3: Remove the copies first

A copy is the easiest file to deal with: it goes.

  • On the line of a copy, which reads "Exact copy of…, already in…", click Remove the copy.
  • Or, in the card A duplicate file, click Compare and choose, check which copy to keep, then click Move 1 copy to the trash.

Filarr reads each copy again right before it goes, and only removes copies that are still identical. They go to the trash, where you can restore them.

Step 4: Take the easy ones

When Filarr has a good idea, one click is enough:

  • click Move to follow the main suggestion;
  • or click a folder name after Or:.

Filarr learns from each file you put away. After a first round, it suggests folders for the files that had no idea at first.

These are ideas, not answers. Here, Filarr suggests Contracts for document(1).pdf. Look inside before you follow it.

Step 5: Look inside, then rename

A file called scan0003.pdf tells you nothing. Open it:

  1. Open the To sort folder.
  2. Click an empty spot of the folder, select the file with the arrow keys, then press Space: a preview opens. Press Space again to close it.
  3. Press F2 and give the file a name that says what it is.

With Alex's files, the preview shows that document(1).pdf is a receipt for office supplies, that scan0003.pdf is the warranty certificate of an espresso machine, and that notes.txt holds ideas for her portfolio. So she renames them "Receipt office supplies 2026-09-11.pdf", "Warranty espresso machine.pdf" and "Portfolio ideas.txt".

A good name pays off twice: search finds the file by its name, and To tidy suggests better places for the files that look like it. See Preview and open files.

Step 6: Put the rest away

Back on To tidy:

  1. Click Choose… on the line of a file.
  2. Pick the folder in the tree. For a place that does not exist yet, click New folder here, for example a Warranties folder.
  3. Click Move.

When several files have a main suggestion you agree with, tick them and click Move as suggested: they all go in one click. A screenshot you no longer need can go to the trash: select it in To sort and press Del.

When To sort is empty, the job is done.

Step 7: Undo a mistake

After each tidy-up, a message such as "1 file put away." appears for a few seconds with Undo. Click it right away to put the file back. Copies you removed are in the trash: see Trash and restore.

Step 8: Keep it clean from now on

Rather than importing your downloads by hand, let Filarr bring them in:

  1. Open Settings → Watched folders.
  2. In the Downloads inbox section, choose To sort under Filarr inbox.
  3. Under Folders to watch, click Add a folder and pick your computer's Downloads folder.
  4. Turn on Enable watching.

Each new download now lands in To sort, and the count next to To tidy tells you when it is time for a round. A round once a week keeps the folder under control. See Watched folders.

What next?