AutomateDownloadsFolder

A python script to automate the cleaning of the Downloads folder

Table of contents

• General info
• Technologies
• Prerequisites
• Setup
• Usage
• Settings
• Future features

General Info

This project is a python script to automate the cleaning of the Downloads folder or any other folder you want. In my daily life, I downloaded a lot of files and my Downloads folder was always a mess, so I decided to start this project.

This is not just a simple script, it has a lot of features and settings that you can customize, like:

• Move files to folders based on their extensions
• Create folders based on the extensions found in settings
• Indicate how many days the files will be kept in the sorted folder before being deleted
• Decide if you want to delete the files or send them to the trash
• Set the maximum size of the files that will be moved

Technologies

• Python 3.x

Prerequisites

• Python 3.x
• pip

Setup

1. Clone the repository:

   git clone https://github.com/LimbersMay/AutomateDownloadsFolder.git

2. Create a virtual environment (recommended):

   python -m venv venv

3. Activate the virtual environment (Linux):

   source venv/bin/activate

   Activate the virtual environment (Windows):

   venv\Scripts\activate

4. Install the requirements:

    pip install -r requirements.txt

5. Rename the settings.example.json file to settings.json located in the data folder.

Usage

There are several ways to use this script, for example:

• Run the script manually
• Create a cron job
• Start the script when the computer starts

Here, I will show you how to start the script when the computer starts.

Linux

1. Create a new systemd user service called automate_downloads_folder.service in the /lib/systemd/user directory:

   touch /lib/systemd/user/automate_downloads_folder.service

2. Open the file with your favorite text editor and paste the following code:

   [Unit]
   Description=My Script
   
   [Service]
   Type=simple
   ExecStart=/usr/bin/python /home/limbers/Documents/PersonalProjects/automateDownloadsFolde>
   WorkingDirectory=/home/limbers/Documents/PersonalProjects/automateDownloadsFolder
   
   [Install]
   WantedBy=default.target
   

3. Reload the systemd daemon:

   systemctl --user daemon-reload

4. Enable the service:

    systemctl --user enable automate_downloads_folder.service

Remember to change the ExecStart field to the path where the script is located.

Note: If you are using a virtual environment, you must use the path to the python executable inside the virtual environment instead of /usr/bin/python. The path to the python executable inside the virtual environment is usually /path/to/venv/bin/python.

Windows

For windows, the easiest way to start the script when the computer starts, is to create an exe of the script and put a shortcut of the exe in the startup folder.

To create an exe follow the steps below:

1. Install pyinstaller:

   pip install pyinstaller

2. Create the exe:

   pyinstaller --noconfirm --onefile --windowed --icon "./assets/work.ico" --hidden-import "plyer.platforms.win.notification"  "./main.py"

3. Move the exe from the dist folder to the root folder (where the main.py file is located)

4. Feel free to delete the build and dist folders and any other file created by pyinstaller

5. Create a shortcut and copy it

6. Press Win + R and type shell:startup to open the startup folder

7. Paste the shortcut in the startup folder

8. Restart the computer

Settings

The settings are in the settings.json file, located in data/settings.json.

These settings are:

• extensions: List of extensions that will be used to create the folders and move the files.
• daysToKeep: Number of days that the files will be kept in the sorted folder before being deleted.
• sendToTrash: If true, the files will be sent to the trash. If false, the files will be deleted from the system.
• maxSizeInMb: Maximum size of the files that will be moved to the sorted folder.
• paths: List of paths that will be used to search for files to be moved.

Feel free to change the names of the extensions, the program will create the folders with the names you put in the settings.

Future features

• Make possible to have multiple source folders where the files will be searched.
• Make possible to have multiple destination folders where the files will be moved.
• Use sqlite3 to store all the data instead of using a json file. (The change from json to sqlite3 wouldn't be hard to do, because I used the repository pattern to separate the data layer from the business layer, so I just need to create a new repository that uses sqlite3 instead of json)