FolderFresh is licensed under GPL-3.0. Versions prior to 1.4.0 remain under the MIT license they were originally released with.
Website: https://trihedron1240.github.io/FolderFresh/
FolderFresh is a Windows-first, rule-based file automation app for organizing ordinary folders with previews, profiles, undo, snapshots, and watched-folder workflows. It is built for people who want precise local automation without writing scripts or YAML.
Distribution and checksum guidance is available in DISTRIBUTION.md.
FolderFresh is designed for local file automation, so the public feature set is kept conservative and explicit:
- Preview shows what will happen before files are organized.
- New installs ask for confirmation before organizing.
- Subfolder scanning is opt-in for new installs.
- Delete actions use the Recycle Bin by default.
- Undo tracking is enabled for supported file operations.
- Current rules use file names, metadata, dates, paths, sizes, extensions, and file types. FolderFresh does not inspect document contents in this release.
FolderFresh 3.0 is a complete rewrite, rebuilt from the ground up using modern Windows technologies for better performance, reliability, and native integration.
Version 3.0.3 adds important fixes and release polish:
- Improved Windows App SDK launch reliability and desktop packaging
- Restored icon behavior for the app window, taskbar, and packaged executable
- Added Vietnamese localization support
- Fixed rule, category, and settings persistence issues
- Fixed excluded folder handling and empty-folder preservation behavior
- Added OpenDocument default category support for
.odt,.ods, and.odp - Enabled editing for default categories
- Rebuilt in C# / .NET 9
- WinUI 3 interface with modern Fluent styling
- Native Windows integration for notifications, startup, and tray behavior
- Async architecture for responsive file operations
- Advanced pattern matching with regex and flexible text operators
- Date range conditions
- Multiple actions per rule
- Dynamic placeholders such as
{date:format},{extension},{counter}, and{name}
- Complete configuration snapshots
- Instant profile switching
- Profile-to-folder mapping
- JSON-backed import and backup friendly storage
- Debounced file handling
- Loop prevention
- Per-folder status tracking
- Independent profiles per watched folder
- Optional subfolder support
- Native toast notifications
- System tray support
- Start minimized and close/minimize to tray behavior
- Create custom rules with flexible conditions and actions
- Match by filename patterns, file size, created/modified/accessed date, folder, path, kind, and extension
- Use operators such as contains, starts with, ends with, equals, regex, greater/less than, and date ranges
- Perform move, copy, rename, delete, and sort-into-subfolder actions
- Group conditions with AND / OR / NONE logic
- Preview rule effects before applying them
- Auto-organizes files when rules do not match
- Default categories: Documents, Images, Audio, Video, Archives, Other
- Customizable names, colors, icons, extensions, and destination folders
- Fallback category support for unmatched files
- Automatically organizes files as they are created or modified
- Supports multiple watched folders with independent automation profiles
- Uses safe write debouncing before processing files
- Includes pause/resume support and per-folder state
- Multiple profiles for different workflows
- Each profile stores its own rules, categories, and settings
- Quick profile switching
- Preview mode
- Undo history
- Optional Recycle Bin support for deletes
- Confirmation before organizing is enabled by default for new installs
- Subfolder scanning is opt-in for new installs
- Folder snapshots help with recovery-oriented workflows
| Area | Supported now | Not currently supported |
|---|---|---|
| Platforms | Windows 10/11 x64 | macOS, Linux, mobile, browser |
| Rule conditions | Name, extension, full name, kind, folder, folder path, size, created/modified/accessed dates | Document-content matching, OCR, AI classification |
| Rule actions | Move, copy, rename, delete to Recycle Bin, move to category, sort into subfolder, ignore, continue | Cloud sync actions, external app actions |
| Safety | Preview, confirmation default, undo for moves/copies/renames, Recycle Bin deletes, snapshots | Guaranteed recovery after permanent delete |
| Profiles | Create, duplicate, switch, import, export, starter packs | Shared/team rule libraries |
Starter packs are importable .folderfresh profiles for common jobs:
- Clean Downloads
- Receipts by Year/Month
- Screenshots by Date
- Creator Export Inbox
- Client Intake
Use Profiles -> Starter Packs in the app, or import files from starter-packs/.
Preview a temporary folder before running any starter pack on real files.
Desktop
|- Documents
|- Images
|- Videos
|- Audio
|- Archives
`- Other
- Windows 10 (version 1809 or later) or Windows 11
- x64 processor
- .NET 9 Desktop Runtime (installer checks for it)
Download the latest installer from the Releases page. The installer is self-contained for Windows x64, so users do not need to install the .NET runtime separately.
git clone https://github.com/Trihedron1240/FolderFresh.git
cd FolderFresh
dotnet restore
dotnet build FolderFresh/FolderFresh.csproj
dotnet test FolderFresh.Tests/FolderFresh.Tests.csproj --collect:"XPlat Code Coverage"
dotnet run --project FolderFresh/FolderFresh.csproj- Visual Studio 2022 (17.8+) with the ".NET Desktop Development" workload
- .NET 9 SDK
- Inno Setup 6 for building the installer
- Open
FolderFresh.slnin Visual Studio, or build with the .NET CLI. - Select the
Releaseconfiguration andx64target. - Build the app.
- Release output will be in
FolderFresh/bin/Release/net9.0-windows10.0.22621/win-x64/.
dotnet publish FolderFresh/FolderFresh.csproj -c Release -r win-x64 --self-contained true -p:PublishSingleFile=false -p:PublishReadyToRun=false -p:PublishTrimmed=falsedotnet restore
dotnet build FolderFresh.sln -c Release
dotnet test FolderFresh.Tests/FolderFresh.Tests.csproj -c Release --collect:"XPlat Code Coverage"Use the same commands before opening a pull request.
- Publish the self-contained app in Release mode.
- Run
FolderFresh/installer.isswith Inno Setup. - The installer will be written to
FolderFresh/installer_output/.
Release tags should use the consistent artifact names documented in DISTRIBUTION.md.
FolderFresh stores its app data in %APPDATA%\FolderFresh\.
Version 3.0 is a full rewrite and does not automatically migrate settings from v2.0. You will need to:
- Note your existing rules and categories in v2.0
- Recreate them in v3.0 using the new rule editor
- Set up your watched folders and profiles
Pull requests, issues, and suggestions are welcome. Start with:
- Added security policy, contribution guide, architecture notes, and starter pack documentation
- Added checksum helper and release-validation workflow
- Added importable starter profile packs
- Added Profiles screen starter-pack import entry point
- Removed stale cross-platform template scaffolding and updated project identity away from
Lite - Made new-install defaults safer with confirmation enabled and subfolder scanning opt-in
- Renamed the test project to
FolderFresh.Tests
- Updated release branding from beta to stable 3.0.3
- Improved Windows launch reliability and installer packaging
- Restored app icon behavior for the window, taskbar, and packaged executable
- Added Vietnamese localization support
- Fixed rule, category, and settings persistence
- Fixed excluded folders and empty-folder preservation behavior
- Added OpenDocument default category support
- Enabled editing for default categories
- Complete rewrite in C# / .NET 9 with WinUI 3
- Profile system with complete configuration snapshots
- Native Windows toast notifications
- System tray integration with minimize/close to tray
- Modern Fluent dark theme
- Transition from customtkinter to PySide6
- Advanced rule engine with multi-condition matching
- Profile system with per-folder mapping
- Real-time auto-sync with multiple folders
- Smart category sorting with auto-detection
- Initial releases with basic file organization
- Category-based sorting
- Simple UI with customtkinter