DClutter 1.0.0

A Downloads folder fills up with files you're undecided about. DClutter shows you one at a time, with a preview and the details that actually decide it, and asks: keep it, trash it, or file it. Swipe or press a key. It's meant for the end of a semester or a project — clear it once, then forget about it for a few months.

This is 1.0. Everything it set out to do is done, and I use it on my own machine.

New in 1.0 — sort any folder, not just Downloads

Downloads is still what it opens on and still needs no setup. To sort somewhere else, click the folder path in the top bar and pick one. macOS will ask you to choose that folder explicitly, because an app in the sandbox can only reach a folder you handed it yourself. Folders you've used before stay in the menu.

• Each folder keeps its own progress. Leave one half-sorted, go do another, come back to it.
• Switching with files staged for trash asks first — trash them now, or leave them staged. Files you already filed into folders stay where you put them either way.
• The folder pickers can make a folder, since you usually work out that you need one the moment a file demands it.
• Better card animations. Filing sends the card up toward the folder you chose, and undo brings it back the way it left.

Installing

Unzip, drag DClutter.app to Applications, and double-click.

macOS will refuse to open it the first time. That's expected: verifying an app requires a $99/year Apple certificate this project doesn't have yet, so every unsigned app gets the same warning. To get past it: System Settings → Privacy & Security, scroll to the bottom, click Open Anyway, then Open. Once only — it opens normally after that.

I'm not notarizing it for now, but if this picks up enough support to justify the account, I'll get one.

Universal binary, macOS 14 or later.

v0.4.0 — first pre-release

First public build. Everything the app promises works: keep, trash, file into folders, rename, undo/redo, and gestures.

Dclutter_Demo.mp4

⚠️ macOS will refuse to open this on first launch. That's expected, as the app isn't signed with an Apple Developer certificate yet. The zip contains a READ ME FIRST.txt with the four steps, or see Install (→ github.com).

What it does

Shows you one file at a time from ~/Downloads and asks for one decision.

• Keep — does nothing and the file stays put
• Trash — staged, reviewed, then moved to the Trash. Never deleted outright
• File it — into one of three folders you choose. Undoable

Files are ordered by a score rather than alphabetically, weighing size, how long since you opened it, whether you ever opened it, and whether it's a duplicate or an archive you already extracted. Whether that ordering is any good is one of the things I'd like to find out.

It reads ~/Downloads and folders you explicitly pick. Nothing else.

Requirements

macOS 14 or later. Apple Silicon and Intel.

Known gaps

• Not notarized, hence the first-launch warning
• Only reads ~/Downloads as scanning other folders needs a different sandbox approach
• Swipe and shelf gestures were tuned by feel, so if the thresholds are wrong for you, that's useful to hear

Bugs and friction: https://github.com/RokiTheWise/DClutter/issues