File Organizer

A command-line utility that takes a messy folder and sorts everything inside it into clean, labeled categories — automatically.

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Why I built this

I kept running into the same problem: a Downloads folder full of hundreds of random files with no structure. PDFs mixed with memes, ZIP archives sitting next to Python scripts. Searching for anything was a nightmare.

I wanted a tool I could actually use — not just mv commands buried in a shell script, but something with a proper menu, a preview mode so you don't accidentally move the wrong files, and duplicate handling so nothing gets silently overwritten.

This project was also a good excuse to work with pathlib and shutil properly instead of relying on os.path for everything.

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What it does

• Scans a folder (including subfolders) for all files
• Sorts them into categories: Images, Documents, Code, Archives, Audio, Video, Other
• Supports preview mode — see what would happen before anything moves
• Supports move or copy mode
• Optionally cleans up filenames (spaces → underscores)
• Handles duplicates automatically (file.jpg → file_1.jpg)
• Skips hidden and system files
• Prints a summary when done

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Project structure

file_organizer/
├── main.py         # Menu and user interaction
├── organizer.py    # Core scan + organize logic
├── categorizer.py  # File extension → category mapping
├── utils.py        # Path validation, renaming, duplicate handling
├── config.py       # Category definitions and settings
└── README.md

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How to run it

Requirements: Python 3.10 or higher (uses pathlib and type hints)

1. Clone or download the project folder
2. Open a terminal inside the file_organizer/ directory
3. Run:

python main.py

4. Follow the menu:
   • Set your source folder (the messy one)
   • Set your destination folder (where Organized_Files/ will be created)
   • Run a preview first to see what will happen
   • Then organize

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Output structure

Organized_Files/
├── Images/
├── Documents/
├── Code/
├── Archives/
├── Audio/
├── Video/
└── Other/

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Technologies used

• Python 3.10+
• pathlib — modern path handling
• shutil — file move and copy operations
• re — filename cleanup
• No external dependencies

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Notes

• The tool won't touch the original files in preview mode
• If you use move mode, files are removed from the source after moving
• Hidden files (dotfiles, __MACOSX, etc.) are automatically ignored
• If a file with the same name already exists at the destination, it gets renamed with a counter suffix instead of being overwritten

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Author

GitHub: https://github.com/neyzik232