v1.9.1 - Better Navigation

New Features

Jump Straight to Any Tool

• Image, Video, Audio, and PDF menus in the menu bar — open Compress, Convert, Merge, and every other tool in those categories without hunting through the sidebar
• A Tools menu for everything else — Files, Privacy, AI tools, Design, and more, grouped the same way as inside the app
• A Go menu for your workspace — Home, History, Recipes, Smart Folders, and Settings in one place
• Settings from the keyboard — press ⌘, on Mac or Ctrl+, on Windows and Linux to open Settings instantly

Easier Ways to Reach Support

• Feedback and email right in Settings — share ideas, report issues, or contact StoicSoft without leaving the app
• The same links in the Help menu — Website, Send Feedback, and Email Support sit in the menu bar too

Improvements

• Windows and Linux look like a native desktop app — no empty band under the title bar, and the top of the window no longer swallows clicks meant for the sidebar or page
• Shortcuts and privacy copy match your device — Windows and Linux show Ctrl instead of ⌘, and "Nothing leaves this PC" instead of Mac-only wording
• The menu bar says 1FileTool — About, Hide, and Quit use the real app name instead of a generic label

Bug Fixes

• Fixed video conversion to WebM failing every time — WebM now encodes with the right video and audio formats, so Convert → WEBM works like MP4, MOV, AVI, and MKV
• Fixed "Open with 1FileTool" stacking the same files twice — a second handoff from Finder or File Explorer replaces the previous selection instead of doubling the list

v1.9.0 - AI Access, One Workspace! 🤖

New Features

Let Your AI Assistant Use Your Tools

• Just say "use 1filetool mcp" — ask Claude Code, Codex, or Gemini to do the work in plain language: "use 1filetool mcp to compress these images" and it happens, without you opening a tool page
• 64 jobs your assistant can run — compress and convert images, PDFs, video, and audio; split, merge, and OCR PDFs; extract text; strip metadata; zip and rename; even run your own saved recipes
• One click to connect — the new AI Access tab in Settings finds Claude Code, Codex, and Gemini on your machine and sets each one up for you, with nothing to edit by hand
• Your files never leave your Mac — your assistant only sends instructions; every job runs locally in 1FileTool, exactly as it does when you click Run yourself
• Ask before anything is destroyed — jobs that overwrite or delete your originals, like Shred and Rename, refuse until you confirm
• Questions about a file are free — checking size, dimensions, page count, or duration never counts against your daily files
• Your daily allowance still applies — work your assistant does counts toward the same 8 free files a day, and it tells you plainly when you have run out
• Off until you switch it on — nothing accepts requests until you enable AI Access, and turning it off stops it immediately

A Faster Way Through 200+ Tools

• Filter the tool list as you type — find Compress, Watermark, or Strip EXIF in a category without scrolling past everything else
• Tools grouped by the job they do — each category now opens into sections like Reduce, Resize, Convert, Edit, and Protect instead of one long list
• Pick a tool and stay on the page — files, settings, and results all live in one place, so choosing a different tool no longer sends you back to the start
• The run button never scrolls away — it stays fixed at the bottom of the window along with your file count and total size

Pick Up Where You Left Off

• See your last three jobs on Home — jump straight back into the tool you were using, with the file you were working on
• Recent output at a glance — see which tool produced each file, how long ago, and reveal it in Finder with a click

Know Your Daily Allowance Before You Start

• A free-file counter in the sidebar — watch your 8 daily files tick down as you work instead of discovering the limit when you press Run
• The same count in the run bar — every tool page shows how many free files you have used today before you process anything

Improvements

• Your daily count keeps up with your assistant — the sidebar meter updates the moment an AI-driven job finishes, so the number is right whether you pressed Run or your assistant did
• Find AI Access from the search bar — searching for "AI", "MCP", or "assistant" takes you straight to the setup screen
• Rebuilt navigation — the sidebar is now grouped into Workspace, Editors, Tools, and Automation, with counts for your saved recipes, watched folders, and history
• Results you can read at a glance — every processed file now shows its size before and after, plus the exact percentage saved, so a batch never hides one file that grew instead of shrank
• Honest numbers on Home — replaced the fixed "Privacy Score 100%" with a figure you can actually check: total bytes uploaded to a server, which is always zero
• One consistent look across every tool — settings, drop zones, file lists, and buttons now behave and look the same whether you are in PDF, Image, Video, Audio, Text, Files, Design, Privacy, or AI Tools
• A calmer, clearer colour scheme — one accent colour marks everything you can click, while green is reserved for saved space and successful runs
• Light and dark polished equally — both appearances were rebuilt together, so neither feels like an afterthought
• Easier keyboard navigation — every button, field, and list item now shows a clear focus outline as you tab through the app
• Quieter progress and results — processing and success screens dropped the confetti and animation in favour of the numbers that matter

Bug Fixes

• Fixed Power Tools being unreachable — the category had a page but no way to open it from the sidebar, and its Run button had no visible background
• Fixed your daily file count not updating after a run — the sidebar meter and the run bar now refresh the moment a job finishes
• Fixed the notifications bell sitting underneath the upgrade button — both are now fully visible and clickable
• Fixed files that grew during compression showing a misleading saving — a file that ends up larger now shows an amber "+4%" instead of hiding inside the batch total
• Fixed the Save button being covered by the upgrade button in the Recipes workspace

v1.8.0 - Background Removal with AI

New Features

On-Device Background Removal

• Remove image backgrounds fully offline — download the cutout model once, then keep every image on your device while creating clean PNG results
• Process entire image batches — remove backgrounds from one image or a full selection with per-file progress and cancellation controls
  • Supports JPG, PNG, WebP, HEIC, TIFF, AVIF, and BMP images
  • Free users can export 512 px previews, while Pro keeps the full image resolution
• Choose the output background — export a transparent cutout or replace the background with white, black, or any custom color
• Open images straight into Background Removal — right-click supported images and choose Remove Background without finding the tool manually

Improvements

• Much cleaner background removal — upgraded the offline cutout AI from 320 px Silueta inference to the 1024 px IS-Net model, with smoother confidence-based edges and preservation of existing transparency
• Clearer background-removal setup — see the one-time model download size and progress, cancel an active download, or delete the model whenever you want to reclaim storage
• Safer image compression — JPG, PNG, WebP, and GIF compression now keeps the original file whenever reprocessing would not reduce its size
• Leaner on-device AI support — desktop releases include only the files needed by your operating system and computer

Bug Fixes

• Fixed background-removed images showing horizontal scan lines and broken transparency — resized masks now retain the correct single-channel pixel layout
• Fixed small PNGs losing clean transparency after compression — logos, icons, and cutouts now preserve their original colors and transparent edges
• Fixed compressed images becoming larger than the originals — same-format compression now keeps the original file when no smaller result is possible
• Fixed photos changing orientation after compression — JPG and WebP images now keep the correct viewing direction
• Fixed batch compression producing unreadable files for unsupported formats — those images now remain valid in their original format

v1.7.0

New Features

Background Software Updates

• Download updates while you work — keep converting, compressing, and processing files while a new version downloads in the background
  • Watch live download progress in a compact header notice
  • Relaunch when the update is ready, or let it install the next time you quit
• Choose how update alerts appear — use a subtle header notice, open the full update window automatically, or keep update alerts silent
• Set your own update routine — control automatic downloads, install-on-quit behavior, and how often 1FileTool checks for a new version

Flexible Pro Options

• Choose a license for 1, 3, or 5 devices — compare one-time options in the app and open the matching checkout directly
• Open Pro details from anywhere — a new header shortcut and clearer AI preview prompts show exactly what Pro unlocks
• See bundle and loyalty savings — explore the complete StoicSoft app bundle or check your next-app discount when you already own Pro

Improvements

• Clearer Free vs Pro comparison — see the Free plan's 8-file daily allowance alongside unlimited processing, full-length on-device AI, live Smart Folder automation, workflow recipes, and included updates
• Simpler update renewals — keep using your current Pro version forever after its included update period ends, and renew only when you want future features and updates
• One place for license details — review your plan, registered email, active devices, update eligibility, activation options, and renewal choices together

Bug Fixes

• Fixed background update downloads stopping after a connection change — downloads now retry automatically and keep their status visible
• Fixed opening the update window restarting an in-progress download — the current download now continues in the background with its progress intact
• Fixed Restart & Install reopening the previous version on macOS — the app now closes cleanly so the downloaded update can finish installing

v1.6.0 - Quiet Updates, Clearer Pro

New Features

Background Software Updates

• Download updates while you work — keep converting, compressing, and processing files while a new version downloads in the background
  • Watch live download progress in a compact header notice
  • Relaunch when the update is ready, or let it install the next time you quit
• Choose how update alerts appear — use a subtle header notice, open the full update window automatically, or keep update alerts silent
• Set your own update routine — control automatic downloads, install-on-quit behavior, and how often 1FileTool checks for a new version

Flexible Pro Options

• Choose a license for 1, 3, or 5 devices — compare one-time options in the app and open the matching checkout directly
• Open Pro details from anywhere — a new header shortcut and clearer AI preview prompts show exactly what Pro unlocks
• See bundle and loyalty savings — explore the complete StoicSoft app bundle or check your next-app discount when you already own Pro

Improvements

• Clearer Free vs Pro comparison — see the Free plan's 8-file daily allowance alongside unlimited processing, full-length on-device AI, live Smart Folder automation, workflow recipes, and included updates
• Simpler update renewals — keep using your current Pro version forever after its included update period ends, and renew only when you want future features and updates
• One place for license details — review your plan, registered email, active devices, update eligibility, activation options, and renewal choices together

Bug Fixes

• Fixed background update downloads stopping after a connection change — downloads now retry automatically and keep their status visible
• Fixed opening the update window restarting an in-progress download — the current download now continues in the background with its progress intact
• Fixed Restart & Install reopening the previous version on macOS — the app now closes cleanly so the downloaded update can finish installing

v1.5.0 - On-device AI (read-aloud, audiobooks, voice cleanup), silence cutting, and true redaction

New Features

AI Tools — All On Your Device

• Read Aloud — turn any document or text file into natural-sounding speech you can save and listen to anywhere
• Document to Audiobook — convert a PDF or Markdown file into a chaptered audiobook (M4B or MP3), with chapters pulled from your headings and bookmarks
• Voice Cleanup — remove background noise, hum, and hiss from any recording for clear, studio-style audio
  • Everything runs offline — your files never leave your computer
  • Pick from several natural voices, downloaded once and reused
  • Try any AI tool free with a short preview, then unlock full-length output and batch with Pro

Silence Cut for Video and Audio

• Automatically remove silent gaps from screen recordings, lectures, sermons, and podcasts — no manual editing
• See the cut plan first — review how many cuts will be made and how much time you'll save before you export
• Tune it to your recording — adjust silence sensitivity and the padding kept around each bit of speech

Visual Duplicates

• Find near-duplicate photos, not just exact copies — spot the same shot saved at different sizes, formats, or quality
• Auto-pick the best version of each group (largest and sharpest) and send the rest to a review folder
• Runs on thousands of photos entirely on your device — nothing is uploaded

True Redaction & PII Detection

• Detect PII — scan a PDF for emails, phone numbers, SSNs, and credit card numbers automatically
• Auto-Redact PII — find and permanently remove sensitive information in one click
• Verify Redaction — confirm nothing sensitive is still hidden or recoverable after you redact a PDF

Smart Folders

• Content-aware Folder Monitor rules — sort and route files by what's inside them, not just their name or type
  • Match on name, file type, or text content — like "PDF contains Invoice"
  • Rename matches automatically with tokens like date, year, and month
  • Move matching files into subfolders as they arrive
• Preview before you commit — a dry run shows exactly what would happen to the files already in a folder
• Start from a preset — Invoices, Screenshots by month, and Bank statements are ready out of the box

Improvements

• Background Tasks — long jobs now run in the background with a status bar in the corner
  • Keep using other tools while a batch finishes
  • Run several operations at once and watch each one's progress from any page
  • Cancel a running task anytime, and reveal finished files in your folder with one click
• Faster batch processing — image, PDF, and video batches now process multiple files at the same time, using more of your computer's power to finish sooner
• New AI Tools category appears at the top of the sidebar and shows up automatically for existing users

Bug Fixes

• Fixed redaction only covering text with a black box — redacted content is now permanently removed from the PDF, so it can no longer be copied out or recovered

v1.3.1 - Folder Selection

New Features

Folder Selection

• Drop whole folders - Drag one folder, multiple folders, or a parent folder into any file drop zone and 1FileTool will collect the supported files inside
• Select folders when browsing - Pick folders from the file picker instead of opening each folder and selecting files one by one
  • Image tools collect supported image files and skip PDFs, documents, videos, and other unsupported files
  • PDF, video, audio, privacy, design, and workflow tools use their own file rules automatically

Improvements

• Cleaner large-folder handling - Duplicate files are skipped and folder contents are added in a consistent order, making batch jobs easier to review
• Open multiple files from Finder more reliably - macOS selections opened with 1FileTool now arrive together instead of appearing as separate handoffs
• Linux release packaging is more reliable - Linux downloads are prepared with the right file type support during release packaging

Bug Fixes

• Fixed PDF image watermark file selection - adding an image watermark to a PDF now accepts the PDF plus JPG or PNG watermark image in the same selection
• Fixed old app name appearing in the sidebar and Recipes page - the app now consistently shows 1FileTool

v1.3.0 - Workflow Recipes

New Features

Workflow Recipes

• Build multi-step file workflows — chain everyday file actions into saved recipes you can run again whenever the same job comes up
• Start from ready-made recipes — use Privacy Upload Pack, Image Web Pack, or PDF Delivery Pack as a starting point, or create a blank workflow
• Process more file types in one flow — combine image, PDF, video, audio, privacy, rename, and ZIP actions in a single recipe
• Run recipes from Folder Monitor — watched folders can now run a saved recipe when new files arrive, not just a single tool
• Review recipe history — see manual and Folder Monitor runs, success status, output files, and what each step produced

Open with 1FileTool

• Right-click files into 1FileTool — open supported images, PDFs, videos, audio files, Word documents, data files, and archives directly from your system file picker
• Choose the best tool before processing — 1FileTool now shows matching tools for the files you opened, grouped by type
• Send files straight to the tool page — picked files are automatically loaded into Compress, Convert, Merge, Extract, metadata, ZIP, File Info, and other matching tools
• Open multiple files at once — mixed selections are grouped so each file type gets relevant actions without re-dropping files inside the app

Improvements

• Recipe outputs stay organized — each workflow run saves final files into a dedicated recipe folder, with an option to keep intermediate files when you need them
• Folder Monitor shows recipe runs clearly — monitors label recipe targets, show the number of enabled steps, and include recipe activity in monitor history

v1.2.0 - PDF to Word & Word to PDF

New Features

PDF to Word & Word to PDF

• Convert PDF to Word — turn any PDF into an editable DOCX file while preserving the layout, images, and formatting
• Scanned PDF to Word — run OCR on scanned documents and get editable text in a DOCX file, ready to edit in Word or Google Docs
• Batch PDF to Word — convert multiple PDFs to Word documents in one go — drop a folder of PDFs and get a DOCX for each
• Word to PDF — convert DOCX files to clean PDFs, with text and embedded images carried over
• All four tools work in Folder Monitor — set a watched folder and automatically convert new PDFs to Word or new Word files to PDF as they arrive

Anonymous Usage Analytics

• Help improve 1FileTool — a one-time consent dialog asks if you'd like to share anonymous usage data
  • What's shared: app version, operating system, and which tool categories you use
  • What's never shared: file names, file paths, file contents, or any personal data
• Full control in Settings — toggle analytics on or off anytime under Privacy & Security
• Off by default until you choose — nothing is sent until you explicitly allow it

Improvements

• Smarter output placement for conversion tools — PDF to Word, Word to PDF, PDF to JPG, PDF to PNG, and image-to-PDF tools now save the converted file next to your original instead of replacing it, so you keep both
• Batch conversion keeps going when a file fails — Batch PDF to Word now skips files it can't read and continues converting the rest, showing you exactly which files were skipped and why

Bug Fixes

• Fixed Repair PDF failing on encrypted or password-protected PDFs — repair now opens and fixes these files instead of throwing an error
• Fixed batch conversion aborting on the first bad file — one unreadable PDF no longer stops the entire batch

v1.1.0 - Favorites, unified batch tools, and a cleaner workflow

New Features

Favorite Tools

• Star any tool on any tool page — a new Favorite button sits right above the drop zone on every tool
• Favorited tools appear on your Home dashboard — jump straight to Compress, Merge PDF, or any tool you use most without browsing the sidebar
• Unfavorite from anywhere — remove a tool from your dashboard either on the tool page or by clicking the X on the dashboard card

Unified Batch Tools

• One tool handles both single and batch — no more separate "Compress Image" and "Batch Compress Images"
  • Compress — drop one file or fifty, it just works
  • Convert — one unified converter replaces all the individual JPG→PNG, PNG→JPG, WebP→JPG, etc. tools
  • Resize and Watermark — same one-tool approach for images
  • Same unification across PDF, Video, Audio, and File categories
• Smarter tool list — 37 image tools streamlined to 26, 25 video tools to 23, and similar cleanups across categories
• Old bookmarks and links still work — URLs pointing to removed tools automatically redirect to the new unified tool

Settings — Tabbed Layout

• Settings now organized into tabs — General, Tool Categories, Privacy & Security, License, and About
• Jump directly to a tab from anywhere in the app — the output options bar has a one-click settings button

Markdown to HTML

• New file tool — convert Markdown files to a clean HTML page, ready to publish or preview

Improvements

• History page now shows accurate file sizes for batch jobs — every output file in a batch operation gets its real size tracked
• Better history search and sorting — searching and sorting by tool name works correctly even for batch tools
• "Replace source" is now on by default — new users start with the most common workflow, existing users can toggle it in Settings
• Cleaner workflow on every tool page — the file list now appears after the output options, so you set your preferences before reviewing files
• Better keyboard accessibility — tool cards now support Enter and Space keys, with proper ARIA labels

Bug Fixes

• Fixed history not updating file paths after replacing source — when you choose "Replace source," the history entry now shows the correct final path and size
• Fixed batch operations showing zero file sizes in history — every output file from a batch job now has its real size recorded