Can you create folders inside your programs that move around when you open them?
Can you create folders inside your programs that move around when you open them?
Hey everyone, I'm searching for something like Apple iTunes' Smart Playlists but on Windows. Basically, I want to set up a folder and pick specific rules based on things like which file types you have or when they were changed, then the computer should figure out exactly where all the matching files are without me doing anything extra. It would feel like having magic folders that update themselves whenever new stuff comes in. Maybe it could group everything into one place or keep them organized by their original spot on the disk. I even wonder if we can use special rules to create a fake folder structure right there inside the main dynamic list, so files jump around without showing up in different places until the computer tells us they're related. Right now, I run hundreds of media projects and lots of documents from all kinds of apps. Keeping track of them was totally fine before, but Excel is getting way too hard. Things move around and get edited often. Every single change needs to be written down again by me on my spreadsheet. Instead, I would really like a list of virtual folders that populates itself with all the relevant docs wherever they actually are, sorted nicely by name or when they were last changed or how rated they are. Maybe it could also use file tags so you don't have to worry about where everything ends up? Any good ideas would be super helpful!
you might find these results by searching in file explorer, then move everything into a single folder that you create yourself. but i haven't figured out how to automate this over and over again. i've never seen anything like this before, so I'm stuck with the manual way. basically, it means spending time doing one search manually, moving all files into organized folders for each project, then copying those results from the window so they're all in one spot no matter where they are now.
dragon12600
07-02-2026, 04:44 AM #3For me, every project gets its own folder. All related files go inside it. Maybe CAD, maybe audio, or text pictures, whatever you need. There isn't really a tool that makes this happen by itself. "Automatically populated" just means I have to create the right info for each item on my own.
you just have to go in file explorer, find those links, and paste everything into a new folder you make up yourself. but i can't think of any automatic way to do this every single time. i've never tried it, and i don't know anything that does this naturally like what was described above. Basically, if you spend the time searching once and moving all files into separate folders for each project to stay organized, you can then just copy and paste those results straight from the search window. That makes it easy to collect them all in one spot no matter where they end up right now.
Smart Folders in iTunes do not save files inside them. They only point to where the files are. It doesn't matter much. The closest thing I can think of for Windows is Saved Searches. You could try that and see how it works for you. How to Save Searches in Windows for Quick Access Later If you often search for certain files in Windows, saving searches is a great way to access them more quickly than retyping the search every time. Saving searches is especially useful if you often do more advanced searches, or search by combinations of date range, file type, or keywords. www.howtogeek.com
This might help. I could create saved searches to show the main project doc files, sorted by name, date, and rating, then just navigate to the right folder where all relevant docs or symlinks are located. Hmmm.... I'll try this and see how it compares to managing everything manually in Excel. Otherwise, it sounds like what I'm looking for wouldn't be very popular, so I won't wait for such an app and certainly won't waste my time building it. But thank you for the suggestions! Very helpful.
Exactly. Maybe I should say Dynamic Virtual Folders? To be clear, I want the app (or ideally a File Explorer extension) to find and show files without moving them. Yeah, that makes sense, except some apps create lots of extra files and subfolders that can't easily or safely move relative to the main doc file. For example, Nuendo generates folders for audio clips, video clips, cache areas, renders, exports, backups, etc. Moving things breaks the project. I suppose I could make a symbolic link to the Nuendo doc file, but then there are questions about metadata. At minimum, I need an option to sort all my projects by name, last modified date, and rating. Oh, and drat, Windows doesn't allow metadata on file folders anyway, so grouping projects into traditional folders won't work. This might help. I could create saved searches to show the main project doc files, sorted by name, date, and rating, then just navigate to the right folder where all relevant docs or symlinks are located. Hmmm.... I'll try this and see how it compares to managing everything manually in Excel. Otherwise, it sounds like what I'm looking for wouldn't be very popular, so I won't wait for such an app and certainly won't waste my time building it. But thank you for the suggestions! Very helpful.
BlazingSyntex1
11 hours ago #7And I'll add a thought: maybe you can use Powershell if you want to study it and write some code or scripts. Maybe something like this: https://theitbros.com/powershell-script-...d-folders/ Also: https://searchwindowsserver.techtar...Move-Item-examples-for-file-folder management What is most important is the overall complexity and necessary logic for folder/file management processing required. Parsing a filename for certain letters or just looking at file extensions is where you would probably start. Next create the script that if, for example, the file extension is "doc" then the file is moved to folder "My-docs". Good chance that you can use the existing Excel spreadsheet in some way via lists and arrays: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/po...s/...rshell-7.1 And also consider importing the spreadsheet data into a database like Access. May make files easier to track and manage. Or grant Access "Read Only" rights to the original Excel spreadsheet. The Access Wizards may prove helpful there. For most part I think Powershell would be a good tool to use. As always, create a test environment with the spreadsheet and all necessary folders and files. Ensure that originals and their backups are safe away from harm. So if things go wrong you can again just copy the originals into the test environment. Start simple and proceed slowly and methodically as you learn.
Good idea. A powershell script would be handy and simple to run whenever you want it. Just take the time to make sure it does what you need it to do. Overall, writing a script isn't that hard at all, especially if you have an example or two to follow along with and only tweak as needed.