For macOS 14 Sonoma and later · Free & open source
Your Desktop. Always tidy.
Drop anything on your Mac Desktop. DeskTidy waits until it’s ready, files it in the right place, and tells you where it went.
Local by design · Never deletes · No account required
Demo ready. Activate Tidy my Desktop to watch the files file themselves.
Visual demonstration — sped up. The real DeskTidy waits ~20 seconds so it never grabs a file mid-save.
Your Desktop wasn’t supposed to become a storage strategy.
It starts Monday with one screenshot. By Friday there are nine, plus contract-FINAL-v3 (2).pdf, a screen recording you’ll “rename later,” two zips, a stray Python script, and something called untitled folder 2. None of it is junk — that’s why it’s still there. It just never got put away.
Every glance at the pile costs a little attention. DeskTidy exists to end that tax — not by deleting anything, but by quietly putting things where they go.
How it works
Drop it. Forget it. DeskTidy files it.
Drop anything
Save, screenshot, download, drag — use your Mac exactly as you do now. DeskTidy watches the folder you chose (Desktop by default) in the background.
It waits, then files it
About twenty seconds after a file settles, deterministic rules move it to Documents, Screenshots, Videos, Audio, Archives, Code, or Folders. Unsure? It goes to Inbox — visibly set aside, never guessed.
You stay informed
A notification names the destination — click it and Finder opens with the file highlighted. Every move is written to a log you can read anytime.
The technical version, for the curious
A launchd agent watches your target folder (WatchPaths, with a 60-second interval backstop) and runs a small Swift binary. The binary skips anything modified in the last 15 seconds and anything that looks like an in-progress download (.crdownload, .part, .tmp…), classifies by extension and name, and moves with a collision-safe rename so nothing is ever overwritten. A single-instance lock keeps runs from colliding. A second agent tails the move log and posts the notifications. It’s ~700 lines of Swift you can read in one sitting.
Safety is the product
It moves files. It never deletes them.
That’s the whole trick.
Software that touches your files has to earn it. Every guarantee below is enforced in code, tested in CI on every change, and inspectable in the open source.
Never deletes
There is no delete path for your files in the code. Moves only.
Never overwrites
Name collision? Both files are kept — the newcomer gets a timestamp suffix.
Nothing leaves your Mac
Zero network calls in the source. No telemetry, no analytics, no accounts.
Unknown means Inbox
Unrecognized files are set aside visibly — never confidently misfiled.
Downloads are left alone
A settle window plus .crdownload/.part/.tmp detection means no half-saved file is touched.
AI can't move files
The optional on-device pass writes suggestions to a text file. It has no move, rename, or delete ability.
Every move is logged
Timestamped, with the exact final filename — trace anything, anytime.
Uninstall keeps your files
Teardown removes DeskTidy. Your organized folders stay exactly as they are.
About Full Disk Access — the honest version
macOS protects your Desktop from background programs, which is exactly right. For DeskTidy to organize it, you grant one-time permission — to the small sorting binary only, not to a shell or a script something else could swap out. Until you grant it, DeskTidy logs an error and touches nothing. The desktidy setup command opens the right System Settings pane and walks you through it. Read the security policy →
Optional · macOS 26+
A second opinion for the Inbox — on your Mac, suggestions only.
When files DeskTidy can’t classify pile up in Inbox, Apple’s on-device model can read each file’s name and a short local preview, then write its recommendation to a plain text file. That’s the entire feature: it cannot move, rename, delete, or upload anything — the code gives it no such ability. File contents are treated as untrusted, so instructions hidden inside a document are ignored. No Apple Intelligence? The feature compiles out entirely and the sorter works exactly the same.
Inbox/SMART_TRIAGE_SUGGESTIONS.md
Install
Two commands. Under a minute.
DeskTidy installs with Homebrew, builds from source on your own Mac, and refuses to install itself if its safety self-test fails.
brew install anubisquantumcipher/tap/desktidydesktidy setupsetup starts the background service and walks you through the one-time Full Disk Access grant. Prefer a different folder? desktidy setup --target ~/Downloads
Day-to-day commands
desktidy statusdesktidy sort-nowdesktidy logdesktidy teardownNo Homebrew? Install it first from brew.sh, or clone the repo and run ./install.sh. Optional: brew install terminal-notifier makes the notifications clickable.
Built for the way Desktops actually get messy
Screenshot-heavy work
Support, QA, design reviews — every ⌘⇧4 lands in Screenshots, not on top of yesterday's forty.
Designers & video creators
Exports, recordings, and asset zips file themselves into Videos, Images, and Archives while you keep working.
Developers
Stray scripts, JSON dumps, and config files head to Code. Your Desktop stops being a scratch buffer.
Students & researchers
Lecture PDFs, papers, and notes collect in Documents instead of scattering across the semester.
The 'temporary' Desktop
If your Desktop is a landing zone on purpose, DeskTidy makes it one that empties itself.
Downloads folder duty
Point it at ~/Downloads instead — the same rules tame the other folder that fills itself.
Not a “Mac cleaner.” The opposite, actually.
Cleaner apps hunt for things to delete. Rules engines make you build the system. DeskTidy is the third option: a clean desktop without writing a single rule — and without deleting a single file.
| DeskTidy | Traditional Mac cleaner |
|---|---|
| Organizes the folder you choose | Searches your disk for things to delete |
| Unknown files go to a visible Inbox | Broad “junk” recommendations to approve |
| Runs entirely on your Mac, no account | Often wants accounts, cloud, subscriptions |
| One small focused utility (~700 lines) | A suite of loosely related tools |
| A readable log of every single move | An opaque “space saved” score |
Open source today · Native app next
Free forever at its core.
DeskTidy is MIT-licensed and public on GitHub — every guarantee on this page is a claim you can check against ~700 lines of Swift. The command-line version you can install today stays free.
Next up: a native menu-bar app — pause and resume from the menu bar, a live activity feed, one-click undo, and visual rules — as a one-time-purchase, no-subscription product. It’s in development, not for sale yet. Want in when it’s ready?
The questions you should ask
Straight answers, matching exactly what the code does today.
Will it delete anything?
What happens when two files have the same name?
Does it upload my files anywhere?
Why does it need Full Disk Access?
Does it keep working after a restart?
Does it require Apple Intelligence?
Can it organize Downloads instead of the Desktop?
desktidy setup --target ~/Downloads.Can I pause or undo it?
desktidy teardown stops the service instantly; desktidy setup resumes it. There is no one-click undo button yet, but every move is logged with the exact final filename, so you can trace and reverse anything. An undo command is on the roadmap for the native app.What happens to file types it doesn't recognize?
How do I uninstall it?
desktidy teardown && brew uninstall desktidy. Your folders and every file DeskTidy ever sorted stay exactly where they are.What versions of macOS are supported?
Is it open source?
Is there a native menu-bar app?
A clean Desktop, without another chore.
Install DeskTidy, drop a file, and watch your Mac put it away.
Free · Open source · Uninstalls cleanly, your files stay put