Your Desktop is 200 files deep again. The fixes are usually worse than the mess: a cloud app that wants your whole drive, a script you found online that might eat something, or twenty minutes of dragging files into folders by hand.
Boring Sweep is the boring, correct version. One command in your terminal. It shows you exactly where every file is about to go, you say yes, and the folder is clean. Every run writes its own undo script, so the worst case is “I’ll just undo it.” Pure bash — runs on any Mac with nothing to install but the tool, and nothing ever leaves your machine.
Three steps. No drama.
Point it at the mess
sweep ~/Desktop, or a preset like sweep downloads. It reads the folder and works out where everything belongs.
Look at the plan, say yes
It shows you exactly where each file is headed before touching anything. Nothing moves until you confirm.
Undo any time
Don’t like it? sweep undo. Every run leaves a timestamped undo script, so any sort rolls back cleanly — this week or next month.
What it does.
- 01Previews the whole plan before it moves a thing — confirm, dry-run, or just go
- 02Reads names, not only extensions: invoices to Finance, screenshots to Screenshots
- 03Never deletes, never overwrites — a name clash becomes “name (2)” and undo restores it
- 04Every run reversible by its own undo script, even weeks later
- 05Bend it to your own buckets with a plain config file
- 06Pure bash, zero dependencies — no account, no cloud, no Python, no Node
The full kit.
- 01The sweep command — the categorizer plus a safe, reversible move engine
- 02Presets for the folders you actually clean: desktop, downloads, documents, photos
- 03An undo manager — roll back the last run, list every run, or undo one by id
- 04A config format for your own extension and name-token rules
- 05Optional HTML + Markdown run reports
Built the careful way: 35 end-to-end safety tests, including byte-identical undo and a refusal to touch your home or system folders by accident.
The honest answers.
What if it sorts something wrong? +
Run sweep undo. Every run is reversible, including weeks later — it never deletes and never overwrites.
Will it mess up my apps or projects? +
No. It moves whole folders intact and never opens them, and it refuses dangerous targets like your home folder unless you force it.
Do I need Python or Node? +
No. It’s pure bash. Every Mac already has what it needs, and nothing leaves your machine.
Can I change the categories? +
Yes, with a short config file. Your extension and name rules win over the built-ins.
Boring Sweep.
One purchase. Yours forever. No subscription.