Calm Productivity for Mac
Sorter runs silently in your menu bar and moves new files where they belong — by type, instantly, automatically. No rules to write. No cloud involved. No fuss.
Apple Notarized · Apple Verified · No account required · Free
The Pro Advantage
Most file managers sort by date. Sorter sorts by meaning.
Sorter ships with a hand-tuned classification map covering 80+ professional file types across 20+ categories — including CAD drawings, GIS data, medical imaging (DICOM), scientific datasets, source code, fonts, and e-books. It doesn't just know .pdf; it knows the difference between a font and a spreadsheet.
Some files are made of multiple parts — a compressed archive, a web script with its config, a font with its license. Sorter recognizes these as a single item and always moves them as one, so your files never end up scattered across separate folders.
Sorter is built on Apple's strictest security model. It can only see the folders you choose — nothing else on your Mac. There are no analytics, no crash reporters, no network calls of any kind. The code that moves your files never touches the internet, because it has no ability to.
How Sorter Thinks
Sorter is notified by macOS the moment a file lands in a watched folder — the same way Finder knows when something changes. There is no timer running in the background. CPU usage at idle is exactly 0%.
Sorter reads the file's extension and looks it up in a built-in list of 80+ types — images, documents, code, audio, video, and more. Everything happens on your Mac. No file name or path is ever sent anywhere.
Before moving anything, Sorter checks that the destination is safe, that the file has finished downloading, and that it isn't already where it needs to go. Only then does the move happen — handled safely by macOS itself.
Sorter only acts on new arrivals. It never touches files that existed before you added a watch folder, never re-sorts on app launch, and never moves a file twice. Your existing organization stays exactly as you left it.
Files Sorter deliberately ignores
Questions
No. Sorter only acts on files that arrive after it is running. It never scans or rearranges files that already exist in a folder. This is a deliberate design decision, not a limitation — automatically moving everything you already have is the fastest way to accidentally scatter a project you spent weeks building. Sorter respects your past work and only shapes what comes next.
Yes. Sorter checks every move before it happens — it won't touch system folders, and it won't move a file that hasn't finished downloading. If two files would end up with the same name, it renames rather than overwrites. Nothing is ever deleted. Every move is recorded in the Activity Log, accessible from the menu bar icon.
Any folder you choose via the standard macOS file picker. Sorter can watch your Downloads folder automatically, with no extra steps. For other locations — Desktop, Documents, a project folder, an external drive — you add them in Settings. Once added, Sorter remembers them across reboots. You can remove a folder at any time and Sorter forgets it instantly.
Yes. In Settings, you can reassign any file type to a different folder, rename any category, or turn categories off entirely. If you just want simple on/off control without digging into the details, Simple Mode lets you do that in one tap.
Launch at login is opt-in and toggled in Settings — it is never enabled without your permission. When no files are arriving, Sorter consumes 0% CPU. It waits to be told by macOS that something changed, rather than constantly checking. The menu bar icon is the only persistent footprint, and on Apple Silicon the power draw at idle is unmeasurable.
The features are identical. The .dmg is Apple Notarized — macOS checks it automatically before it opens, so you know it's safe. The Mac App Store version is distributed and updated through Apple directly, which some users prefer for convenience or for managing multiple Macs. Choose whichever feels right.
Legal
Sorter does not collect, store, or transmit any personal data. All file operations occur exclusively on your local Mac. No usage analytics, crash reports, or telemetry are sent anywhere.
Sorter requests access only to the folders you explicitly configure. These permissions are managed entirely through macOS's standard security model and can be revoked at any time in System Settings → Privacy & Security → Files and Folders.
Sorter does not integrate with any third-party service, SDK, or advertising network. There are no in-app purchases that require account creation.
Questions about this policy? Use the contact form below.
Get in Touch
Have a question or feedback about Sorter? Fill out the form below or email rubie@sorterapp.net directly.
