---
title: "Watched folder · MacMelon"
description: "A watched folder is a directory you choose for Disk Housekeeper Autopilot. Cleanup of that folder still previews."
url: "https://macmelon.com/glossary/watched-folder"
---

# Watched folder

A folder you explicitly ask Autopilot to keep an eye on.

Watching a folder means the app pays attention to that location, not to the entire disk. The scope is the point. Downloads is a common choice. A directory of build output you can regenerate is another. A folder of irreplaceable originals is a poor one.

In [Disk Housekeeper](https://macmelon.com/apps/disk-housekeeper), the watched folder is what Autopilot cleans. The preview still happens. The Trash is still the default. The essay [Autopilot is a watched folder, not a timer](https://macmelon.com/blog/autopilot-is-a-watched-folder) is the longer warning against reading the feature as a schedule.

## Apps

[Make room for what matters. Clear clutter with confidence. ### Disk Housekeeper](https://macmelon.com/apps/disk-housekeeper)

## Related guides

[### How to free up disk space on a Mac](https://macmelon.com/guides/how-to-free-up-disk-space-on-a-mac)

## Related use cases

[### Set up Autopilot for a watched folder](https://macmelon.com/use-cases/autopilot-watched-folder-cleanup)[### Sort Downloads with plain-English rules](https://macmelon.com/use-cases/sort-downloads-with-plain-english-rules)

## Related terms

[Watched-folder cleanup in Disk Housekeeper, still behind a preview. In Sentinely, the memory fixes you have approved. ### Autopilot](https://macmelon.com/glossary/autopilot)[Disk Housekeeper's sorter, driven by rules you write in plain English. ### Auto-Sort](https://macmelon.com/glossary/auto-sort)[A required look at the files a clean will touch, before anything is removed. ### Preview before cleaning](https://macmelon.com/glossary/preview-before-cleaning)