DownSort v2.2

Download • Organize • Find

The smarter way to manage your downloads. A local Windows app that reviews, groups, and de-duplicates a folder 

DownSort keeps your downloads organised, accessible and under control - so you can focus on what matters. It runs entirely on this computer: no installation, no internet, nothing ever leaves your machine.

What it does

Smart organisation

Sorts loose files into sensible folders automatically - by type, by date, by name, by size, or not at all if you only want the review.

Finds real duplicates

Files are matched on their contents, not their names. A SHA-256 hash confirms every match, so 'report.pdf', 'report (1).pdf' and 'QR-final-COPY.pdf' are caught if they are truly the same file - and two files that merely share a size are not.

Finds similar images

Optional. Catches the same photo resized, re-saved or re-compressed, which byte-matching cannot see. These always arrive unticked, because 'looks the same' is a judgement and 'is the same' is a fact.

Groups related files

Optional. Files belonging to one piece of work are gathered into _Collections. A shared job reference such as 3209, TP-3209 or [3209] binds them on its own; otherwise two of three weaker signals - same name, same document title, created within two minutes - must agree.

Safe and reliable

Nothing moves until you press Apply. Deleting means the Recycle Bin, never a permanent erase. Every run writes an undo log you can reverse. Files open in another program are detected and left alone rather than failing.

The most important rule

Only loose files are ever moved.

Anything inside a subfolder is read-only. A node_modules tree, an extracted installer, a project folder, a downloaded package - they are structures, and pulling a file out of one can break whatever depends on it. The app compares against them but never takes anything out.

So if the same file name appears in two different folders, nothing happens to either. If a loose file duplicates one inside a folder, the copy inside the folder is the one that survives - regardless of dates - and only the loose copy is quarantined. Where every copy sits inside a subfolder, the set is not offered as an action at all; it is shown as protected.

This is also why the review is short. Twenty thousand files inside packages produce no rows: the app has nothing to propose about them.

Folders are checked as units

A folder is judged whole, not file by file. The Folders tab lists every subfolder with its file count and size, and flags two findings:

Extracted copy  The folder matches a .zip sitting beside it, so you are storing the same thing twice.

Same contents   Two folders hold the same files throughout, verified on the largest of them.

Folder findings are reported and never actioned. Removing a folder is a judgement about a whole body of work, so the app tells you and leaves the decision to you. Act on one from the Results tab when you agree.

Every option explained

Group files

By file type    Documents, Spreadsheets, PDFs, Images, Installers, ProjectFiles and so on.

By type then year The same, with a year folder under each.

By date      2026\03 - March, and so on.

By similar name  Groups files that share a distinctive word - everything about Primavera together, everything about RAIA together, Student Loan together. Set the minimum files per group in Scope; three is a good starting point.

          A file sharing no word with any other is still filed sensibly: it is checked against a list of recognisable subjects - Job Applications, Tax, Invoices and Receipts, Bank and Finance, Travel, Contracts and Legal, Certificates and Training, Manuals and Guides - and failing that, by what kind of file it is. There is no leftover bucket.

By file size    1 - Under 1 MB through to 5 - Over 1 GB.

Don't move     Review and de-duplicate only; your structure is untouched.

Duplicates

Move to _Duplicates  One copy stays put, the rest are quarantined. Reversible.

Send to Recycle Bin  Restorable from your desktop.

Report only      Flags them and leaves them where they are.

When duplicates are found you are asked which copy to keep - oldest or newest - with a real example from your folder so the choice is concrete.

Scope

Compare against subfolder files  Lets a loose file be matched against copies inside your folders. Nothing inside a folder is ever moved.

Check folders for duplicates   Extracted-archive and identical-folder findings. On by default; reads nothing but names and sizes.

Group related files together   Turns on collections, for loose files only.

Ignore files under N KB       Skips trivia when matching duplicates.