downsweep

Sort a messy Downloads folder into neat folders with one command. Turn on auto mode and forget about it. Make your own rules. Changed your mind? Undo it.

Your Downloads folder is full of PDFs, installers, screenshots and zip files all mixed together. downsweep sorts them into Images, PDFs, Documents, Programs and more in a few seconds. It can keep sorting new downloads by itself, lets you add your own rules, and lets you reverse it if you don't like the result.

See it in action

Install

pip install downsweep

Command not recognised?

On some Windows computers, the downsweep command isn't found right after installing. This happens because Windows doesn't know where pip put it. It's not a problem with your files, and there's an easy fix: start it through Python instead.

python -m downsweep --preview

If python isn't recognised either, try:

py -m downsweep --preview

Everything works the same way, for example python -m downsweep --undo or python -m downsweep --rules.

If pip says something like "defaulting to user installation" or "not writeable" while installing, that is normal and harmless. It only means pip installed downsweep for your user account.

Quick start

See what would happen first. Nothing is moved:

downsweep --preview

Clean your Downloads folder:

downsweep

Changed your mind? Move everything back:

downsweep --undo

Clean any other folder:

downsweep "C:\path\to\folder"

Auto mode (Windows)

Turn it on once and downsweep keeps your Downloads folder tidy in the background, with no window:

downsweep --auto on

It starts by itself every time you log in to Windows. Check on it, or turn it off:

downsweep --auto status
downsweep --auto off

• A file is only moved after it has stopped changing for about 10 seconds, so downloads that are still in progress are never touched.
• Files already sitting in the folder are sorted too, a few seconds after you turn it on.
• To reverse what auto mode sorted, turn it off first (downsweep --auto off), then run downsweep --undo.
• Want to watch it work in a window instead? Run downsweep --watch and press Ctrl+C to stop. This also works on Linux and Mac.

Your own rules

Want all your PDFs in a folder called Study? Save a rule once and downsweep remembers it:

downsweep --add-rule .pdf Study

See your rules:

downsweep --rules

Forget a rule:

downsweep --remove-rule .pdf

Your rules always win over the built-in sorting, and undo cleans up your custom folders too.

Linux and Mac

downsweep is plain Python, so sorting, preview, undo, custom rules and downsweep --watch also work on Linux and Mac. Only --auto on (starting at login) is Windows-only for now.

• If pip says "externally managed environment", install it with pipx: pipx install downsweep
• If your Downloads folder has a different name, give the folder yourself, for example downsweep ~/Downloads

Features

Feature	What it does
Preview mode	Shows what would move, changes nothing
Auto mode	Sorts new downloads in the background (Windows), or in a window with --watch
Custom rules	Send any file type to a folder you choose
Undo	Moves the last cleanup's files back where they were
Summary	Prints how many files went into each folder
Safe by design	Never overwrites a file, adds (1), (2) to duplicate names
Download-aware	Skips files still downloading, like .crdownload and .part
Zero dependencies	Only uses Python's standard library

Folders it creates

Images, Videos, Audio, PDFs, Documents, Archives, Programs, Code and Other, plus any folders from your own rules.

Good to know

• Undo reverses the last cleanup of a folder. After auto mode, it reverses what auto mode sorted since your last undo (up to the last 500 files).
• After a cleanup, a small file called .downsweep_log.json is saved inside the folder. That is how undo remembers what moved. Please don't delete it if you want to undo.
• Your rules are saved in a small file called .downsweep_rules.json in your home folder, and they apply to every folder you clean.
• A rule's folder is created inside the folder being cleaned, so use a simple name like Study, not a full path.
• Only files directly inside the folder are sorted. Existing sub-folders are left alone.

License

MIT