[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":160},["ShallowReactive",2],{"glossary-en-automatic-file-sorter":3},{"id":4,"title":5,"body":6,"category":150,"description":151,"draft":152,"extension":153,"meta":154,"navigation":155,"path":156,"seo":157,"stem":158,"__hash__":159},"glossary_en\u002Fglossary\u002Fautomatic-file-sorter.md","Automatic file sorter",{"type":7,"value":8,"toc":141},"minimark",[9,22,27,42,48,65,69,72,82,97,101,123,128],[10,11,12,13,17,18,21],"p",{},"An automatic file sorter is a tool that moves files into folders for you, following rules instead of manual drag-and-drop. The rules range from simple — \"put every ",[14,15,16],"code",{},".pdf"," in Documents\" — to content-aware: \"read this scan, work out that it's a receipt from Carrefour dated June 3rd, and file it under ",[14,19,20],{},"Receipts \u002F 2026 \u002F 06",".\" The category covers desktop utilities, scripts, and cloud tools that organize Google Drive or other storage.",[23,24,26],"h2",{"id":25},"the-three-families-of-sorters","The three families of sorters",[10,28,29,33,34,37,38,41],{},[30,31,32],"strong",{},"Rule-based sorters"," match file properties: extension, name pattern, size, date created. They are fast and predictable. Their limit is that the file has to carry its own metadata in the name — ",[14,35,36],{},"acme-invoice-june.pdf"," sorts fine, ",[14,39,40],{},"scan_0042.pdf"," doesn't.",[10,43,44,47],{},[30,45,46],{},"Scripts and built-in automation."," On a desktop, a shell script or a tool like Hazel (macOS) can watch a folder. In Google Drive there is no native equivalent; Apps Script can move files, but you write and maintain the code yourself.",[10,49,50,53,54,59,60,64],{},[30,51,52],{},"Content-aware (AI) sorters"," open the file, read it — using ",[55,56,58],"a",{"href":57},"\u002Fglossary\u002Focr","OCR"," when it's a scan or a photo — and classify it by what it actually contains. This is the only family that handles badly named files, which in practice is most of the backlog. See ",[55,61,63],{"href":62},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fai-file-organizer","AI file organizer"," for how that classification works.",[23,66,68],{"id":67},"what-a-sorting-rule-looks-like","What a sorting rule looks like",[10,70,71],{},"Whatever the family, a sorter needs two things from you: a destination structure and a naming convention. A typical rule, expressed in plain terms:",[73,74,79],"pre",{"className":75,"code":77,"language":78},[76],"language-text","Receipts \u002F {year} \u002F {month} \u002F {merchant}-{date}.pdf\n→ Receipts \u002F 2026 \u002F 06 - June \u002F carrefour-2026-06-03.pdf\n","text",[14,80,77],{"__ignoreMap":81},"",[10,83,84,85,88,89,92,93,96],{},"Rule-based tools can only fill ",[14,86,87],{},"{year}"," and ",[14,90,91],{},"{month}"," from file metadata. Content-aware tools fill ",[14,94,95],{},"{merchant}"," and the real document date from the text inside the file. With Sorters, on Google Drive, you write rules like this in free text with dynamic fields (year, month, document type, supplier), pick the files to sort, and the AI fills in the values — with a live preview of the result while you configure.",[23,98,100],{"id":99},"trade-offs-to-weigh","Trade-offs to weigh",[102,103,104,111,117],"ul",{},[105,106,107,110],"li",{},[30,108,109],{},"Predictability vs. coverage."," Rule-based sorting never surprises you but skips anything its patterns miss. AI sorting covers everything but should always be checked through a preview.",[105,112,113,116],{},[30,114,115],{},"Continuous vs. on-demand."," Folder-watching tools run permanently and need standing access to your storage. On-demand tools run when you launch them — less convenient for a constant stream, safer and simpler for periodic clean-ups.",[105,118,119,122],{},[30,120,121],{},"Scale."," Sorting ten files by hand takes two minutes. Automation is for the recurring batch or the 300-file backlog, not the occasional download.",[124,125,127],"h3",{"id":126},"related","Related",[10,129,130,131,135,136,140],{},"If your files are in Drive rather than on disk, the relevant variant is the ",[55,132,134],{"href":133},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fai-file-organizer-for-google-drive","AI file organizer for Google Drive",". For the simplest rule of all — splitting by extension — see ",[55,137,139],{"href":138},"\u002Fglossary\u002Forganize-google-drive-by-file-type","how to organize Google Drive by file type",".",{"title":81,"searchDepth":142,"depth":142,"links":143},2,[144,145,146],{"id":25,"depth":142,"text":26},{"id":67,"depth":142,"text":68},{"id":99,"depth":142,"text":100,"children":147},[148],{"id":126,"depth":149,"text":127},3,"Definitions","An automatic file sorter moves files into folders based on rules — by type, date, or content. The main approaches and their trade-offs.",false,"md",{},true,"\u002Fglossary\u002Fautomatic-file-sorter",{"title":5,"description":151},"glossary\u002Fautomatic-file-sorter","04gUHiKQ9i0mucnnkfFM1DzuBAcE7Eyu0Tyb4MP4Miw",1785276343822]