Manage Folders

By default, Hazel shows just one folder—Downloads (Macintosh HD   Users   your-username   Downloads)—but you can add as many folders as you like. For each folder, you can then create one or more rules to monitor the folder and perform the actions of your choice.

Adding a folder, by itself, causes nothing to happen, so feel free to add any folders you think you’d like to monitor and then add rules at your leisure.

Add a Folder

Hazel can be used to organize almost any folder, but the best candidates are ones that tend to collect files, such as where your browser downloads files, where Mail puts attachments, or a shared Dropbox folder. Hazel can also use Smart Folders (with minor limitations).

Because folders associated with downloads are among the most common ones to monitor, Hazel offers a shortcut to some of the most common ones, known as Quick Folders. When you begin configuring Hazel, we suggest starting with folders in this category, and then moving on to conventional folders and Smart Folders.

Add a Quick Folder

To add a quick folder, go to Hazel’s “Folders” pane and click the plus   button at the bottom of the Folders list. In the dialog that appears, choose a folder from the “Quick Folders” pop-up menu at the bottom and then click “Open.” Your choices are:

If you use another app to download files regularly, you can add that location as a conventional folder (discussed just ahead). But note that you should not have Hazel watch a folder in which files download over an extended period of time (as is often the case with P2P and BitTorrent clients). Some such apps have an option to move completed downloads to another location—in such cases, you should have Hazel watch that secondary location. For example, Vuze (formerly called Azureus) lets you set this in “Vuze” > “Preferences” > “Files” > “Completion Moving.”

Add a Conventional Folder

If a folder you want Hazel to watch isn’t in the Quick Folder list, you can add it manually. Go to Hazel’s “Folders” pane and then do either of the following:

Add a Smart Folder

Hazel can also monitor Smart Folders, which are saved Finder searches. (For example, you might search for files with a certain tag that are also over a given size, and save that search so you can find matching files whenever you like. To learn more, see Apple’s support article  Create or modify a Smart Folder .) This means that Hazel can, in theory, monitor any file or folder, anywhere on your Mac—as long as it matches well-defined search criteria.

To add an existing Smart Folder, go to Hazel’s Folders pane and click the plus   button at the bottom of the “Folders” list. In the dialog that appears, choose “Saved Searches” from the “Quick Folder” pop-up menu at the bottom to display your Saved Searches folder. (If you’ve stored your Smart Folder somewhere else, navigate to that location instead.) Select the Smart Folder you want, select it, and click “Open.”

Important:  Because Smart Folders represent files that may be located anywhere on your Mac, Hazel rules for Smart Folders cannot descend into subfolders or match against subfiles.

Tip: See a Folder’s Full Path

The folder list shows only folder names, not their locations. To see a folder’s full path, hover your pointer over the folder (without clicking). The path appears as a tool tip.

To see a folder in the Finder, right-click (or Control-click) the folder name and choose “Reveal in Finder” from the contextual menu.


Remove a Folder

To remove a folder from Hazel’s Folders list, select it and click the minus   button at the bottom of the list. Read the warning that appears and click “Remove” to confirm.

Important:  Removing a folder also removes all its rules. If you want to be able to use a rule on another folder, drag it to that folder first. (See  Copy or Move a Rule .)


Set Folder Options

The lower-right corner of Hazel’s Folders pane has two “Throw away” options that apply to the currently selected folder and enable you to delete files you’re unlikely to need:

Note:  These checkboxes apply to conventional folders and Quick Folders, but not to Smart Folders.

SEE ALSO

About Folders & Rules

Create & Edit Rules