---
title: "Sort Downloads with plain-English rules · MacMelon"
description: "Disk Housekeeper Auto-Sort files with rules you write in plain English, and shows a preview before it applies them."
url: "https://macmelon.com/use-cases/sort-downloads-with-plain-english-rules"
---

# Sort Downloads with plain-English rules

Describe the sort in ordinary language, then read the preview. Auto-Sort is filing. It is not the same as a delete.

[Auto-Sort](https://macmelon.com/glossary/auto-sort) in [Disk Housekeeper](https://macmelon.com/apps/disk-housekeeper) takes rules in plain English. Downloads is the folder people mean most often: disk images, PDFs, and exports that landed there because the browser did not ask.

This site does not publish a rule grammar. The product says the rules are plain English. A sentence you might want is the kind of sentence a person would say out loud. The preview is what the app understood, and the preview is what you confirm.

## Steps

1.  ### Pick a folder with a real mess

    Downloads is the usual start. A folder of mixed exports works too. Do not point a sort at a folder of originals you have not copied anywhere if you are still unsure what the rule will match.

2.  ### Write the rule the way you would say it

    For example, you might mean that installers belong in one place and PDFs in another. Treat that as an illustration of plain English, not as a published syntax. If the preview does not match your sentence, change the sentence or skip the sort.

3.  ### Read the preview before anything is applied

    Disk Housekeeper previews before it acts. Check a few filenames. A rule that is too broad will show you a list that is too broad. That is the moment to stop.

4.  ### Keep deletes on the cleaning path

    Sorting files is not the same operation as Smart Clean. When you do remove files, the default is the Trash. Do not empty the Trash until the files are where you expected.

## Before you start

-   A plain-English rule can be read more widely than you hoped. The preview is the contract, not the sentence you remember typing.
-   Autopilot is a watched-folder clean, not a synonym for Auto-Sort. Use the feature that matches the verb you want.

## Questions

Is there a list of supported rule keywords?

Not on this site. Auto-Sort is described as plain-English rules. Confirm every run in the preview.

Will a sort delete my downloads?

Auto-Sort is for sorting. Removal is a clean, which previews and goes to the Trash by default. Read the preview so you know which action you confirmed.

## 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)[### Free up space on a MacBook](https://macmelon.com/use-cases/free-up-space-on-a-macbook)

## Related terms

[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)[The holding area macOS uses for files you have deleted but not yet erased. ### Trash](https://macmelon.com/glossary/trash)[A folder you explicitly ask Autopilot to keep an eye on. ### Watched folder](https://macmelon.com/glossary/watched-folder)

## Related notes

[Disk Housekeeper Autopilot cleans a folder you choose to watch. It still previews, and it still uses the Trash by default. ### Autopilot is a watched folder, not a timer](https://macmelon.com/blog/autopilot-is-a-watched-folder)