File me!

December 2, 2005 5:52 AM

Is there an easy way to allocate downloaded files to specific folders on a mac?

Basically all my web downloads go to a folder on my desktop and once in while i file them. Is it possible to get downloaded mp3's filed straight to a music folder, jpegs to an images folder and so on?

posted by brautigan to Computers & Internet (9 answers total)

What browser do you use?
If Safari, you can change the location of your downloads in Safari's preferences under General > Save downloaded files to:
posted by UnclePlayground at 6:22 AM on December 2, 2005

Response by poster: I use safari and it can route all downloaded files to one folder. I'd like to be able to filter things more than this though.
posted by brautigan at 6:39 AM on December 2, 2005

You want folder actions, and a script like this one.
posted by I Love Tacos at 6:43 AM on December 2, 2005

Best answer: Sure, use a Folder Action. Folder actions run when a folder is modified. For example, you could run an AppleScript or an Automator workflow that moves new files to the correct location whenever a file is added to your download folder. Here are some step by step instructions:

1. Create a download folder in a convenient location (perhaps on your desktop?)
2. In Safari choose Safari menu > Preferences > General and change the "Save Downloaded files to:" item to the new download folder.
3. Create either an AppleScript or an Automator workflow that moves files to where you want them based on file type/file name/etc. For sample Folder Action scripts, examine the scripts in "/Library/Scripts/Folder Action Scripts".
4. If you chose to create a custom script, perform steps 5-8. If you create a workflow, perform steps 9-12.
5. Save your script to "/Library/Scripts/Folder Action Scripts".
6. Enable Folder Actions by launching Folder Actions Setup in the Applications/AppleScript folder and selecting the Enable Folder Actions checkbox.
7. Click the + button below the Folders with Actions list and choose the download folder.
8. Click the + button below the Script list and select your custom script, then click Attach.
9. In Automator, choose File menu > "Save as Plug-in".
10. Select Folder Actions from the "Plug-in for" pop-up menu.
11. Select the download folder in the "Attached to Folder:" pop-up menu. If the folder you want to use is not in the menu, then select Other and locate the download folder.
12. Select the Enable Folder Actions checkbox and click Save.

Files placed either manually or by Safari in the new download folder should now be routed to the correct location as specified by your AppleScript or Automator workflow.
posted by RichardP at 6:52 AM on December 2, 2005 [1 favorite]

Wow, RichardP, that was really helpful. i've never messed with either AppleScript or Automator. Thanks!
posted by danb at 7:58 AM on December 2, 2005

Somewhat related: Music blog browsing has become a much better experience since I started using the Firefox Greasemonkey extension FoxiPod. It marks mp3 files with a special icon on a web page, then you can use that icon to send the file to iTunes in a single click. But you gotta be using Firefox, of course.
posted by bendybendy at 8:16 AM on December 2, 2005

Is there a way to do this on a PC?
posted by Four Flavors at 9:15 AM on December 2, 2005

Wow, that's super helpful. Automator is amazingly useful.
posted by bshort at 2:41 PM on December 2, 2005

On a PC just use one of a thousand download managers (like DAP or Flashget) which can do just about anything with downloads, including choose the folder by extension.
posted by Rhomboid at 8:47 PM on December 2, 2005