Desktop Cleanup Script

A Python daemon that automatically moves screenshot files from your Desktop to a temporary folder and archives old screenshots to keep your desktop organized.

What it does

This script monitors your Desktop for screenshot files (files matching the pattern Screen*.png) and automatically:

1. Moves screenshot files from Desktop to ~/Pictures/Temp/
2. Keeps only the 5 most recent screenshots in the temp folder
3. Archives older screenshots to ~/Pictures/ organized by date
4. Runs continuously as a background daemon

Setup Instructions

1. Create the LaunchAgent

First, create a launchd configuration file to run the script automatically:

cat > ~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.scriptmyjob.desktop_cleanup.plist << EOF
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">

<plist version="1.0">
    <dict>
        <key>Label</key>
        <string>com.scriptmyjob.desktop_cleanup</string>
        <key>Program</key>
        <string>$HOME/Scripts/.bin/desktop_cleanup.py</string>
        <key>RunAtLoad</key>
        <true/>
    </dict>
</plist>
EOF

2. Set Execute Permissions

Make the script executable (after saving it to the location specified in the plist file):

chmod u+x ~/Scripts/.bin/desktop_cleanup.py

3. Start the Daemon

Start the LaunchAgent:

launchctl start com.scriptmyjob.desktop_cleanup

Requirements

• Python 3.x
• macOS (uses LaunchAgent for daemon functionality)
• Write permissions to ~/Pictures/ directory

How it works

1. Monitoring: The script continuously monitors your Desktop folder every second
2. Detection: Looks for files matching the pattern Screen*.png (typical macOS screenshot naming)
3. Moving: Moves found screenshots to ~/Pictures/Temp/
4. Archiving: Keeps only the 5 most recent screenshots in the temp folder
5. Organization: Archives older screenshots to ~/Pictures/ with date-based organization

Directory Structure

~/Desktop/              # Monitored for screenshots
~/Pictures/Temp/        # Temporary storage for recent screenshots (max 5)
~/Pictures/             # Archive location for older screenshots

Running Manually

You can also run the script manually for testing:

python3 desktop_cleanup.py

Press Ctrl+C to stop the script when running manually.

Logging

The script logs all operations to stdout, including:

• Files found and moved
• Directory creation
• Archive operations
• Start/stop messages

Notes

• The script is designed specifically for macOS screenshot files
• It preserves the 5 most recent screenshots for quick access
• Older screenshots are organized by date for long-term storage
• The daemon runs continuously in the background once started