Ondrej Holzman It is a very unobtrusive program, but at the same time one of the most useful. If Hazel for Mac once you try it, you won't want it any other way. Also, who wouldn't want a helper that silently takes care of various annoying activities such as sorting files, renaming documents, managing the trash or uninstalling apps, saving them valuable time. Hazel can be a really powerful tool.
The application will be installed in your System Preferences, from where you can also control Hazel's activity. But before we move on to the functionality itself, let's talk about what this utility is actually for? It is the name "utility" that fits Hazel best of all, because these are auxiliary activities and actions that Hazel performs silently, saving you time and making your work easier. Everything works on the basis of created rules and criteria, by which files in a certain folder are automatically controlled (moved, renamed, etc.).
Although Hazel may look complicated at first, anyone can set it up and use it. Just choose a folder and from the menu what actions you want to perform with certain files. You choose the files (file type, name, etc.) that you want the action to affect, and then you set what Hazel should do with those files. The options are truly countless – files can be moved, copied, renamed, arranged in folders, and keywords can be added to them. And that is far from all. It's up to you how much you can get out of the app's potential.
In addition to the organization of folders and documents, Hazel offers two more very useful functions that can be set separately. You know when the system tells you that there is not enough space on the disk, and you just need to empty the trash and you have tens of gigabytes free? Hazel can take care of your Recycle Bin automatically - it can empty it at regular intervals and also keep its size at the set value. Then there's the feature App Sweep, which will replace the well-known AppCleaner or AppZapper applications used to delete programs. App Sweep it can do the same as the aforementioned applications and is also activated completely automatically. You will then be able to delete the application by moving it to the trash, after which you App Sweep it will still offer related files to delete.
But there is no real power in that. We can find this precisely in the sorting and organization of files and documents. There is nothing easier than creating a rule that will automatically sort a folder Downloads. We will set all images (either specify an image as the file type or select a specific extension, e.g. JPG or PNG) to be moved to the folder Pictures. Then you just have to watch when the just downloaded image immediately from the folder Downloads disappears and appears in Pictures. Surely you can already think of many other options for using Hazel, so let's demonstrate at least some of them.
Organization of downloaded files
As I mentioned, Hazel is great at cleaning up your downloads folder. In the Folders tab, click the + button and select a folder Downloads. Then click on the plus on the right under the rules and choose your criteria. Select Movie as the file type (i.e. Kind-is-Movie) and since you want the file from the folder Downloads Move to Movies, you choose in events Move file – that folder Movies (see picture). Confirm with the OK button and you're done.
The same process can of course be chosen with pictures or songs. For example, you can directly import photos into the iPhoto library, music tracks into iTunes, all of this is offered by Hazel.
Renaming screenshots
Hazel also knows how to rename all kinds of files and documents. The most apt example will be screenshots. These are automatically saved on the desktop and you can certainly imagine better names for them than the system ones.
Since the screenshots are saved in PNG format, we will choose the ending as the criterion on which the given rule should apply png. We will set up in events Rename File and we will select a pattern according to which the screenshots will be named. You can insert your own text, and then also preset attributes such as creation date, file type, etc. And while we're at it, we can also set the screenshots from the desktop to be moved directly to the folder Screenshots.
Document Archiving
Hazel can also be used for project archiving. For example, you create a folder on your desktop For archiving, into which when you insert a file, it will be compressed, renamed accordingly and moved to Archive. Therefore, we select a folder as the file type and step by step enter the actions – archiving the folder, renaming (we determine according to which formula it will be renamed), moving to Archive. Component For archiving it will therefore serve as a droplet that can be placed, for example, in the sidebar, where you just move folders and they will be archived automatically.
Cleaning and sorting the area
You've probably realized by now that you can also easily clean your desktop with Hazel. As in folder Downloads images, videos and photos can also be moved from the desktop to where you need them. After all, you can create a kind of transfer station from the desktop, from where all types of files will be moved to the exact destination, and you will not have to wade through the file structure.
For example, I have personally connected Hazel with Dropbox, to which the types of images that I regularly need to share are automatically moved from my desktop (and therefore directly uploaded). Images that meet the specified criteria will be moved to Dropbox, and so that I don't have to search for them, Finder will automatically show them to me after they have been moved. In a moment, I can immediately operate with the uploaded file and I can share it further. I must not forget another useful function, which is the marking of a document or folder with a colored label. Especially for orientation, the color marking is priceless.
AppleScript and Automator workflow
The selection of different actions in Hazel is huge, but still it may not be enough for everyone. Then it gets the word AppleScript or Automator. Through Hazel, you can run a script or workflow, which can be used to perform advanced actions. Then it's no longer a problem to resize images, convert documents to PDF or send photos to Aperture.
If you have experience with AppleScript or Automator, there's really nothing stopping you. In combination with Hazel, you can create really big operations that simplify every day spent at the computer.
Hazel - $21,95
Hello,
thanks for the great article, I immediately downloaded the program for testing and will definitely buy it. This is something I've always wished my computer wouldn't let me mess with. And as for the control, it is trivial and has a million options for detailed settings of all possible scenarios. It's just a shame that it's not on the AppStore at a slightly more reasonable price. It would also sell faster on the AppStore, so it wouldn't have to be like that. But so what.