Smart Folder

Smart Folder

Smart Folder is a useful tool for users who want to instantly hide folders and need very few extra features. The program requires the creation of an administrator ID and password from the start in order to launch.

Its standard interface looks a lot like most Microsoft Office applications. Folders are automatically hidden once placed on the program’s interface, but we didn’t like the strict drag-and-drop-only method of adding files to Smart Folder. Although it’s easy to do, in some instances browsing and selecting folders would be a nice option.

You won’t be able to hide individual files or EXE programs using this application either. We were able to switch hidden folders to read-only and they instantly reappeared, but with strict blocks on modifications. While some may want a few more features, this 15-day trial makes a good pick for those in need of simple folder-protection software.

Introduced to macOS in 2005, a Smart Folder is a type of file folder that automatically adds files based on user-defined criteria. When a Smart Folder is created, a menu appears for the user to choose what type of files to add to the folder. It then uses the Spotlight search function to filter out files from the entirety of the computer and add all matching files to the Smart Folder. Smart Folders can sort files by file type, file name, file contents, or by a range of last opened, last modified, or created dates.

A smart folder is a folder of all tasks from different projects from different organizations that you can review, and reorganize.

In Spark, you can set up a smart folder to filter emails by sender, attachments, or content. A smart folder gives you quick access to chosen emails and makes your inbox more organized. For example, if you travel frequently, set up a smart folder for your tickets and reservations, and they appear in a separate folder on the sidebar.

Spark understands natural language; you can type “bookings from Airbnb this year,” and the app finds the referenced emails to create a folder.

For Gmail accounts, Smart Folders show emails from all folders except Trash and Spam. For non-Gmail accounts, Spark looks for emails in Inbox and Archive unless you specify the folder name in your search query.

Spark for Android currently doesn’t support smart folders, but we’re going to add this feature soon.

Please note: Smart folders exist only in Spark and don’t display on the web page of your email account.

Let’s face it. One of the most strenuous tasks of all time using a computer is to organize all the different files on a machine to make it easier to locate them when required. And, in the process, prevent disarray and preserve sanity. If you are someone who likes to automate their daily, mundane tasks, to save some time and be more efficient, you would already have some sort of workflow in place — either using the native solutions or third-party services. However, if you are an average user struggling to manage files on your Mac, the best place to get started is Smart Folders.

Smart Folder is a built-in feature on Mac, and probably one of the most undervalued features in the operating system. It can come in handy to help you better organize your files to make the dependent tasks/operations easier. However, if you are completely oblivious to Smart Folders and have never used them, here’s a detailed guide on what Smart Folders are and how to use them on your Mac.

As already established in the previous paragraph, Smart Folders allow you to curate all the different files on your Mac in one place and organize them in a systematic manner that is easily accessible. By using this feature, you can have better control over the files you have on your machine, which can, in turn, help you get your work done in a fast and efficient manner. Thus, helping you stay organized, while also improving your productivity.

To give you an idea of how Smart Folders can prove to be helpful in regular, day-to-day tasks, consider a situation where you capture a lot of screenshots in a day. These screenshots are usually captured in the PNG format, but for your use-case scenario, you require them in JPEG. And therefore, you need to convert them from PNG to JPEG, for which you need to locate all the screenshots before starting with the conversion process. In such a situation, if you use a Smart Folder and set a criterion that curates all the files ending in the .png format, you can have all your screenshots collated in one place. Thus, saving the hassle of sifting through different folders and getting work done efficiently.

Similarly, you can also create Smart Folders to do things like filter out all the .dmg installers you have on your machine, view all the recently closed documents, get files ending in certain file extensions, or have all the files with specified tags in one place — the use-cases are limitless.

A thing to keep in mind when using Smart Folders is that these folders curate the original files on your machine and do not create a copy of a file. So, in case you make any changes to a file on your Mac, that is also present in a Smart Folder, the changes reflect instantaneously.