How to undo a move, copy, or rename

RuleThemAll is a Mac app that watches folders and runs rules you write. When a rule moves, copies, or renames a file, that action is written to the activity log. Undo is built in. You do not have to hunt through Finder to put a file back.

Notification-only rules have nothing to reverse. This guide is for move, copy, and rename.

If you have not created a rule yet, start with How to create your first rule.

Find the action in the log

Open Activity. Newest first. Each entry shows the filename, the rule, the action, and where the file went. Open details if you need the full paths.

You can also get there from a notification. Tap it and you land on the relevant activity.

What Undo does

On the entry, choose Undo when it is available.

• Move: the file goes back to where it came from
• Rename: the original name is restored
• Copy: only the copy RuleThemAll created is removed. The source file is not touched

If undo cannot complete, the app explains why instead of failing silently. That happens if the file was moved again in Finder, or the destination disappeared. RuleThemAll will not overwrite a file to finish an undo. It will tell you it cannot.

Then fix the rule

Undo puts the file back. It does not change the rule. If you stop here, the next matching file takes the same path.

Edit the match (extension, filename, size) so the next file is handled the way you meant, or pause the rule while you think. You can pause all rules from the menu bar if you need a folder to sit still for a bit.

What undo does not do

Notification-only rules have nothing to reverse. Finder tags are not in V1. A copy undo never deletes the original. A move undo never overwrites a file that is already sitting in the original location under that name.