How to create your first rule

RuleThemAll is a native macOS app. You pick a folder on your Mac, write a rule, and the app acts when a new file appears. Files stay on your machine. There is no account and nothing is uploaded.

A rule is one sentence: when a file appears here, and it matches this, do that. One condition. One action. That's the whole model. This guide walks through creating that first rule from the dashboard.

If the problem you care about is Downloads filling up, start with the post How to keep your Mac Downloads folder under control. Come back here when you want the editor, step by step.

Open the rule editor

From the dashboard, choose New Rule. If the mess is a familiar one (installers, ZIPs, screenshots, invoices, or a heads-up on huge files), you can start from a template instead. A template fills in the condition. You still pick the destination and save.

Pick the folder to watch

Downloads, Desktop, Screenshots, or any folder you grant access to. RuleThemAll only sees folders you approve. macOS will ask. That's expected. The app remembers that permission the next time you launch it.

The free plan includes one watched folder and one rule. Pro unlocks more of both.

Choose what to match

In V1 a rule matches one of:

• Extension: .pdf, .dmg, .zip, and so on
• Filename contains: invoice, screenshot, receipt
• File type: Image, Document, Archive, Video, Audio, Installer
• Size greater than: useful when you want a notification on files over 1 GB

Matching is case-insensitive. There is no regex. Keep the condition readable so you can tell what the rule does six months from now.

Choose the action

• Move the file to a destination folder
• Copy it (the original stays put)
• Rename: prefix, suffix, replace text, or prepend the date
• Notify: a banner when the rule fires, without moving anything

The editor shows the rule as a sentence before you save, plus how many existing files already match. If the destination already has that name, RuleThemAll keeps both files (filename (2).ext). It does not overwrite.

Decide about files that are already there

By default the rule applies to new files only. During save you can run it once on what is already in the folder. That's a one-time pass, not a silent sweep. Skip it if you only want the future to stay clean.

Save, then watch the log

The rule starts enabled unless you turn it off. When it fires, the activity log records what happened, which rule did it, and where the file went.

Rules run top to bottom and stop at the first match. Drag to change priority if two rules could claim the same file.

If a rule is too eager, undo the move, copy, or rename from the log, then edit the condition.