User Guide

Getting Started

Download FilesAutomator from the App Store and open it. There is no account and nothing to sign up for. On first launch you can watch your Downloads folder with one click, or choose a different folder to start with.

1. Download FilesAutomator from the App Store.
2. Open it and choose a folder to watch, Downloads is a common first choice.
3. Turn on Launch at Login so it is already running when you need it.

Building a Rule

A rule has three parts: what folder it watches, what conditions a file must match, and what steps run when it does. Steps chain together, so a single rule can rename a file, convert it, and file it into a subfolder in one pass.

1. Open a watched folder and choose New Automation Rule.
2. Add one or more conditions, such as file type or name pattern, if you want the rule to be selective.
3. Add the steps you want to run, in order: rename, convert, sort into a subfolder, and more.
4. Turn the rule on. It fires the next time a matching file appears.

Want to see this done for a real job, end to end? The  Automation Guides walk through building rules for dozens of everyday tasks by hand, one step at a time.

Starting From a Template

The template gallery already has rules for common jobs: resizing photos for Instagram, shrinking videos for sharing, stamping and cropping PDFs, and sorting screenshots by date. Opening a template drops it straight into the rule editor so you can adjust it before turning it on.

Handling the Original File

Every step that changes a file asks what to do with the original: keep it alongside the new version, replace it, or send it to the Trash. This choice is never assumed, so you always know exactly what a rule will do to your files before you turn it on.

Watching Subfolders

When you add a folder, FilesAutomator asks how far a rule should reach: the top level only, every subfolder, or subfolders down to a depth you choose. New folders start scoped to the top level only, you turn on subfolders explicitly if you want a rule to reach further.

You can change this at any time from the folder options menu, reached from the folder's status pill or the toolbar.

Activity and Undo

Every run shows up in Activity, with what matched, what ran, and whether it succeeded. A single click undoes any run, and a rule's own menu can undo everything it did today in one step if something went wrong.

Pausing a Folder

Click a folder's status pill, or the options icon beside it, to pause watching without removing the folder or its rules. Turn it back on the same way whenever you are ready.

Free Tier and Premium

The free tier keeps 1 automation rule running at once, for as long as you like. Upgrading to Premium removes that limit entirely with a single purchase, not a subscription, and includes Family Sharing for up to five people.