Smart Folder Hacks 101- Automatically Manage and Organize Files on your Mac!

One of the most prominent and most accessible ways to automate files on your Mac is the act of managing files and folders. One such hack to automate files is through smart folders in macOS- an ideal tool for helping you organize and find your files. The smart folders aren’t merely folders as these do not contain anything. These folders contain saved searches, which help you save time with frequent searches.

Now that you know the advantages of a Smart Folder, you look forward to learning how to create one. Well, sticking on is the best thing you can do to reap the benefits.

How to Create a Smart Folder?

You can create a Smart Folder by clicking the File menu in the Finder. You can click on your desktop to let Finder appear on the top menu. A familiar search dialog box appears. Now click on the + button to add new search criteria. You can add as many Smart Folders as you deem fit. The excellent news is Finder pulls out only the files that match defined options. Click on the “+” button and change the three dots.  A list of criteria will appear, and you have the comfort of choosing from any, all, or none, as per your need.

Remember, sky’s the limit and a similar outlook works to the default search options. If you select “Other” from the dropdown menu, a complete list of hidden options will appear. Press “Save” next to the + button if you’re satisfied with the folder. It will save to a particular folder for Saved Searches and will add to the sidebar by default. You can also change the location if you prefer it on your desktop.

Smart Folder Hacks to Start With

Now that you know how to create smart folders, you might be thinking of their uses. Well, here are some of tech giants’ favorites to start with.

• Finding Big Files:

Is searching the big files with “File Size Greater than 1 GB” troubling you? Do you deem the size too big? The best way to locate large files is by saving the search as a Smart Folder. You will now no longer have to search for the large files manually again and you can easily delete the ones you wish to with complete ease.

• Deleting Duplicate Files:

Are you tired of the deteriorating space on your macOS? You might be looking for ways to delete those duplicate files to restore the extra space. One such method is using Gemini 2, the duplicate finder for detecting and deleting the duplicating files. The other is using macOS append “(1)” for seeing the same file names automatically. When you search for this, it will show the duplicate files of your drive with complete ease.

• DMG files:

The downloaded macOS app comes with a .dmg file. These files work wonders in taking up your disk space, cluttering your downloads folder. You can also find these files by manually searching for the .dmg extension, as it is always best to delete these.

The Verdict

Using DropBox links for selected files, tagging files by age are some more hacks for using smart folders on Mac. Following above tips are sure to restore space and boost Mac performance and productivity in the best of manner.