Hey everyone, it’s been a while! Today, I want to talk about something that’s been on my mind lately – finding a good alternative to Hazel for Windows. As many of you know, I’m a huge fan of Hazel on my Mac. It’s like a digital housekeeper that keeps all my files neat and tidy without me having to lift a finger. It automatically organizes files, cleans up folders, and even manages my trash based on the rules I set. But, here’s the catch – I recently had to switch to a Windows machine for work, and, well, Hazel is a Mac-only thing.
So, I started my quest to find something similar for Windows. I mean, there has to be something, right? I did a quick search online, and there are a bunch of programs claiming to be the “Hazel for Windows”. It was a mess to sift through. I found some mentions like AutoIt, DropIt, File Juggler, and a few others. AutoIt seems to be a popular and free option, but I don’t know how it is.
I also stumbled upon something called “Hygeia.” The name sounds a bit odd, but apparently, it’s supposed to be “intelligent” or something. I’m not even sure what that means in this context. Anyway, I decided to give a couple of these a try, starting with BleachBit. I heard it’s good for cleaning up system junk, so I thought it might have some automation features too. Turns out, not quite what I was looking for, but it did clean up some space on my hard drive, which is always a plus.
Then I tried another one – I forgot the name – and it was just a disaster. It was complicated to use, and I couldn’t get it to do what I wanted. I was feeling a bit defeated at this point. But, I’m not one to give up easily, so I kept digging. I read somewhere that after some rumor in 2020, someone did some research and found two options. I couldn’t find what that rumor was, but hey, two options sounded promising!
So, what did I finally land on?
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AutoIt: This one turned out to be pretty powerful. It’s more of a scripting tool, which means you have to write some code to get it to do what you want. It took me a bit of time to get the hang of it, but once I did, I was able to create some simple automation scripts. For example, I made one that automatically moves all downloaded files to a specific folder based on their file type.
Final Thoughts
It’s not as user-friendly as Hazel, but it gets the job done. It’s more involved, for sure, but that’s the trade-off for its flexibility. So, there you have it – my little adventure in finding a Hazel equivalent for Windows. It wasn’t easy, and there’s still a lot to explore, but I’m happy with what I’ve found so far. If any of you have other suggestions or have tried different tools, feel free to share your experiences in the comments. I’m always up for trying new things!