Auto-Organize Downloads Folder
Automatically sort and organize files in your Downloads folder by type, date, or custom rules.
Your Downloads folder has 2,000 files and you can never find anything. Screenshots mixed with invoices mixed with random PDFs — and every 'I'll organize it later' just makes it worse.
Who it's for: anyone with a chaotic Downloads folder, professionals who download dozens of files daily, students with scattered course materials, freelancers juggling client files, remote workers managing shared documents
Example
"Organize my Downloads folder" → 2,000 files sorted into Images, Documents, Videos, Installers, and Archives subfolders, with duplicates flagged, old files archived by year, and a summary of what went where
New here? 3-minute setup guide → | Already set up? Copy the template below.
# Downloads Organizer
## Goal
Organize files in this folder into subfolders by type.
## Rules
- Images (.jpg, .png, .gif, .webp, .svg) → Images/
- Documents (.pdf, .doc, .docx, .txt, .md) → Documents/
- Videos (.mp4, .mov, .avi, .mkv) → Videos/
- Audio (.mp3, .wav, .flac, .m4a) → Audio/
- Archives (.zip, .rar, .7z, .tar.gz) → Archives/
- Code (.js, .ts, .py, .html, .css) → Code/
- Everything else → Other/
## Instructions
1. Create the subfolders if they don't exist
2. Move each file to the appropriate folder
3. Don't move folders, only files
4. Preserve original filenames
5. Report what was moved when done
What This Does
This playbook helps you automatically organize your messy Downloads folder. Claude Code will sort files into subfolders based on file type (images, documents, videos, etc.) and optionally by date.
Prerequisites
- Claude Code installed and configured
- A Downloads folder with files to organize
Step-by-Step Setup
Step 1: Navigate to your Downloads folder
Open your terminal and navigate to your Downloads folder:
cd ~/Downloads
Step 2: Create the CLAUDE.md file
Create a new file called CLAUDE.md and paste the template above.
Step 3: Run Claude Code
In your terminal, run:
claude
Then type: "Organize my downloads according to the CLAUDE.md rules"
Example
Before:
Downloads/
├── vacation-photo.jpg
├── report.pdf
├── song.mp3
├── archive.zip
├── script.py
└── random-file.xyz
After:
Downloads/
├── Images/
│ └── vacation-photo.jpg
├── Documents/
│ └── report.pdf
├── Audio/
│ └── song.mp3
├── Archives/
│ └── archive.zip
├── Code/
│ └── script.py
└── Other/
└── random-file.xyz
Tips & Variations
- Add date organization: Modify the rules to include year/month subfolders like
Images/2026/01/ - Custom categories: Add your own file types and folders based on your workflow
- Dry run first: Ask Claude to "show me what would be moved without actually moving anything" first
Troubleshooting
Problem: Files aren't being moved
Solution: Make sure Claude Code has file system permissions. Check that you're running it from the correct directory.
Problem: Some files go to "Other" unexpectedly
Solution: Add the file extension to the appropriate category in the CLAUDE.md rules.