The main window is divided into five steps. Each step contains a particular set of features; this prevents having a single area cluttered full of controls and hopefully helps guide you through how to use the software.

Tip

The icon in the top-left of the window can be clicked to display a menu. The menu contains extra features over other applications such as being able to set Always On Top and the Transparency, among others.

Welcome: Introduction

This area contains general application and plugin information, along with website links and update checking.

  • Website Links

    • Links to useful sites such as this documentation, the FileSieve forum, and more.

  • Check for Updates

    • Performs an update check to see if there are any updates available for FileSieve.

    Tip

    FileSieve can automatically perform an update check for you every week if you enable the Check for Updates Once a Week option within Settings.

  • Installed Plugins

    • Displays a list of currently-installed plugins, categorised by their type.

Step 1: Source Items

Select the active profile and which directories should be processed for sorting.

  • Active Profile

    • The currently-active profile. Each profile maintains its own separate settings which is useful if regularly sorting the same directories.

    If you have purchased FileSieve, this can be clicked to display a list of all available Profiles that have created. Selecting a Profile will load in its custom settings; except for the settings within the Settings window, all options and properties within the main FileSieve window will be changed to that of the new Profile.

  • Manage...

    • Displays the Profile Manager so profiles can be created, modified, and removed.

  • Source Items List

    • Contains the list of directories (also referred to as Source Items) that will be scanned and processed. Each item can be selectively enabled or disabled by clicking on the checkbox next to the respective item, alleviating the need to fully remove an item to prevent it from being processed.

    Right-clicking on the list will display a menu providing further options.

    Tips

    Directories can be directly dragged & dropped onto the list to add them. Any dropped files will be silently ignored.

    Directories that have been copied/cut to the clipboard can be added to the list by making sure the list has focus and by then pressing Ctrl+V (paste). As is the same with the drag & drop method, the directories will just be linked as normal.

    Multiple items can be (de)selected by using the Shift key to (de)select a range and the Control key to (de)select an individual item.

    Keyboard Shortcuts

    These shortcut keys are active when the Source Items List has the keyboard focus.

    • Ctrl+N, +, Add

      • These are the keyboard equivalents of clicking on the ToolBar - Add button.

    • Enter, Return

      • These are the keyboard equivalents of clicking on the ToolBar - Edit button.

    • Delete

      • This is the keyboard equivalent of clicking on the ToolBar - Remove button.

    • Ctrl+Delete

      • This is the keyboard equivalent of clicking on the ToolBar - Clear button.

    • Ctrl+L

      • This is the keyboard equivalent of clicking on the ToolBar - Load button.

    • Ctrl+S

      • This is the keyboard equivalent of clicking on the ToolBar - Save button.

    • Ctrl+O

      • Opens the folder of the (first) currently selected item.

    • F5, Browser Refresh

      • Rescans and redisplays the Source Items List for the currently active profile.

  • ToolBar
    • Add

      • Displays a folder selector that allows the addition of more directories ("Source Items") to be scanned and processed.

      There is a limit of four directories in the free edition of FileSieve.

    • Edit

      • Displays the Source Item Editor for the currently-selected Source Item, which provides additional features.

    • Remove

      • Removes the selected Source Items from the list. A confirmation dialog will be shown if there are more than two items selected.

    • Clear

      • Removes all Source Items from the list. A confirmation dialog will be shown if there are more than two items listed.

    • Purge

      • Scans the Source Items list and removes any Source Item directories that don't exist on disk.

      Only Source Items that are enabled (have a checkmark) will be checked; unchecked will be ignored for purging. The log window will contain the number of items that were purged, if any.

    • Load List...

      • Displays a file dialog that allows the loading of a previously-saved Source Items list (via the Save List button). The items from the file will be merged with any items currently in the list.

    • Save List...

      • Saves all of the items within the list to a file. No other data will be included from any other section of FileSieve.

Step 2: Destination

Contains the root destination (the location sorted items will be placed), along with the Overwrite Rules editor.

  • Rules...

    • Displays the Overwrite Rules Editor to tell FileSieve what should be done if an item already exists within the root destination.

  • Root Destination

    • The location that FileSieve should place sorted items. Note that this is the root location; Methods (and Modifiers in some cases) typically create extra directories within the root and place items within those.

    Tip

    A directory can be directly dragged and dropped onto the Root Destination textbox to set it as the destination.


  • Multiple Destinations

    • Items that are processed into the root destination can also be mirrored to other locations using the same Method, Modifier(s), and settings; they are not simply just copied to the mirrors but are entirely processed just like into the main destination.

    Multiple destinations is not available in the free edition.

    Notice

    Multiple destinations is only available if the current Copy Mode is set to Copy. This will be changed in a future version.

  • If No Rules Match, Then...Default: Ignore Destination Item

    • A catch-all that tells FileSieve what it should do if no overwrite rules match the current item that already exists within the root destination.

    Only Ignore and Do Not Process Item and Overwrite Destination Item are available in the free edition.

    • Ignore
      • Ignore and do not process item

        • The source item will not be processed and the existing Destination item will be left as-is.

      • Ignore Item if Source is different to Destination

        • If the Destination is in any way different to the Source item, the Source will be ignored and the Destination item will be left as-is.

        The way the Source and Destination are differentiated is first by their filesize, then their LastWritten date, and then CRC32 checksum (which will slow down processing) if the size and dates are the same.

      • Ignore item if Source is newer than Destination

        • If the Source item's LastWrite date is newer than the Destination item's LastWrite date, the Source item will not be processed.

      • Ignore item if Source is older than Destination

        • If the Source item's LastWrite date is older than the Destination item's LastWrite date, the Source item will not be processed.

      • Ignore item if Source is bigger than Destination

        • If the Source item's filesize is bigger than the Destination item's filesize, the Source item will not be processed.

      • Ignore item if Source is smaller than Destination

        • If the Source item's filesize is smaller than the Destination item's filesize, the Source item will not be processed.

    • Overwrite
      • Overwrite Destination item

        • The source item will overwrite the Destination item regardless.

      • Overwrite Destination if Source is different

        • If the Destination is in any way different to the Source item, the Destination will be overwritten.

        The way the Source and Destination are differentiated is first by their filesize, then their LastWritten date, and then CRC32 checksum (which will slow down processing) if the size and dates are the same.

      • Overwrite item if Source is newer than Destination

        • If the Source item's LastWrite date is newer than the Destination item's LastWrite date, the existing Destination item will be overwritten with the Source item.

      • Overwrite item if Source is older than Destination

        • If the Source item's LastWrite date is older than the Destination item's LastWrite date, the existing Destination item will be overwritten with the Source item.

      • Overwrite item if Source is bigger than Destination

        • If the Source item's filesize is bigger than the Destination item's filesize, the existing Destination item will be overwritten with the Source item.

      • Overwrite item if Source is smaller than Destination

        • If the Source item's filesize is smaller than the Destination item's filesize, the existing Destination item will be overwritten with the Source item.

Step 3: Options

Contains the Method, Modifiers, and Copy Mode options.

  • Method

    • The Method to use for sorting the source items. Only one method can be active at a time.

  • Modifiers

    • The Modifiers to use for modifying an item that has been processed with a method. Typically, a modifier makes minor changes to an item (such as filename casing and finding and replacing certain characters within a filename), but some may entirely change the location of sorted items. Multiple modifiers may be active a time.

  • Copy ModeDefault: Simulation

    • Determines how an item should be processed into the sorted root destination.

    • Simulation

      • Items will not be copied, moved, nor deleted. Instead, FileSieve will proceed as normal, but will miss out the actual item copy/move/delete step and instead make a log of where the item will end-up which is displayed as a list once the process has completed.

      This allows you to perform a "test-run" so you can verify the items will be sorted as expected; once done, you can then proceed to select Copy or Move to go ahead with the actual relocation.

    • Copy

      • Items will be copied from their source location to the destination, leaving the source items intact.

    • Move

      • Items will be moved from their source location to the destination, deleting the source items.

    • Delete

      • Items that are matched by the currently active Method will be deleted. They will not be copied, nor moved beforehand.

      Tip

      If the Copy Mode is Delete, the text banner at the top of the window will be tinted red as opposed to the standard yellow colour.

      • Delete to Recycle Bin

        • Enabling the this option will delete any matched items to the Recycle Bin as opposed to deleting them outright from disk. Please be aware that Windows will outright delete any files that cannot fit within the user/admin-imposed Recycle Bin size limit, if any.

        Tip

        If Delete to Recycle Bin is enabled, the text banner at the top of the window will be tinted orange.

Step 4: Review Settings

Provides an at-a-glance overview of the current profile and its settings.

  • Copy Mode

    • Clicking this link will display the list of available copy modes and allow you to quickly change the active mode without having to go back into Step 3.

  • Verify Settings

    • This allows you to check that the current profile and its settings are correct without having to start the sorting process.

  • Ensure All Source Items Exist Before Processing

    • Before sorting starts, each Source Item is checked to ensure that it exists and is readable. This allows you to be warned beforehand if there is a problem with any items. Disabling this option and starting the sorting process will prompt FileSieve to log any source item problems to the logging window but carry on with the sorting process.

  • Start Processing

    • Begins processing for the currently active Profile.

    If there are any problems or issues with the Profile, you will be notified beforehand and will need to correct them before processing can begin.

    Tip

    Clicking on Start will automatically perform a Verify Settings, so there is no need to do it manually before starting.

Step 5: Processing

Provides progress information on the current sorting process, if active.

  • Overall Progress

    • Information on the current sorting process.

  • Pause

    • Pauses the sorting process. Please note that exiting the application will lose the current sorting progress; pausing only allows you to pause within the current session.

  • Stop

    • Stops the sorting process. Stopping the sorting process will not rollback any previously-sorted items.

    Note

    Stopping processing while the copy mode is set to Copy will result in the entire process starting again from the beginning when Start Processing is clicked again.

    A copy mode of Move or Delete will not require starting from the beginning as the prior-processed files will have been moved or deleted and processing will essentially resume. Please note that pre-scanning (gathering file information) will be performed again.

  • When CompleteDefault: do nothing

    • This is the action that FileSieve should perform once the current sieving process has completed. Actions are categorised into groups, excluding the Do Nothing action which will not perform any action once sieving has completed.

    These actions are not available in the free edition.

    • Profile

      • These actions relate to the currently-active Profile.

      • Open Destination

        • The Root Destination folder containing the newly-processed items is opened and displayed.

    • Application

      • These actions relate to the FileSieve application itself.

      • Minimise

        • Minimises the main window to the taskbar.

      • Hide

        • Hides the main window to the system tray if the system tray option is enabled.

      • Hide

        • Shows the main window from the system tray if the system tray option is enabled.

      • Exit

        • The FileSieve application is entirely shutdown and exited. This action is the same as clicking on the X close button in the titlebar.

    • Computer

      • These actions relate to the system FileSieve is running on.

      • Lock

        • Locks the workstation's display. Locking a workstation protects it from unauthorised use; you'll need to re-login to get back to your session.

      • Log-Off

        • Logs the current user off.

      • Hibernate

        • Puts the system to sleep and writes the contents of memory to disk before the computer is turned off. When the system is restarted, the desktop and previously active programs are restored.

        Tip

        If the system does not hibernate, then you will need to make sure that hibernate is enabled in Windows.

        Opening a Windows command prompt and typing shutdown /h may give you additional information.


      • Sleep

        • The computer switches to a low-power state called standby. When a computer is in standby mode, some devices are turned off and the computer uses less power. The system can restore itself more quickly than returning from hibernation. Because standby does not save the memory state to disk, a power failure while in standby can cause loss of information.

      • Restart

        • Restarts the computer.

      • Shutdown

        • Shuts the computer down.

    Notice

    If the current Copy Mode is set to Simulation, the action will not be performed.

    The selected action is persisted across sessions; if you want to perform this action for just this session, please ensure that you change it back next time before you run the profile otherwise the action will be performed.


  • GC

    • Forces the .NET garbage collector to perform a full, blocking sweep to see if it can free up any memory. You should typically never need to do this; doing it manually during processing may make performance temporarily suffer. Please see more information.

    The GC feature is not available in the free edition.

Keyboard Shortcuts

Unless stated otherwise, these keyboard shortcuts are global to the entire window; pressing them regardless of which control is active will cause them to trigger.

  • Ctrl+S

    • Forces a save of the currently active profile to disk. This isn't typically required to be done manually as FileSieve will automatically save the profile when any changes are made. No message is shown when manually saving.

  • Ctrl+M

    • Minimises the FileSieve window to the taskbar.

  • Ctrl+W

    • Exits FileSieve entirely. This shortcut can be disabled from within the Settings window. Default: Enabled

  • Ctrl+Shift+V

    • This is the keyboard equivalent of clicking on the Verify Settings link within Step 4.

  • Ctrl+Shift+S

    • This is the keyboard equivalent of clicking on the Start button within Step 4.

  • F1, Help

    • Displays the Welcome page to this documentation.

  • F2

    • Displays the Introduction section.

  • F3

    • Displays the Source Items section.

  • F4

    • Displays the Destination section.

  • F5

    • Displays the Options section.

  • F6

    • Displays the Review Settings section.

  • F7

    • Displays the Processing section.

  • F11

    • Displays the Settings window.

  • F12

    • Displays the Log window.

  • PrintScreen, Snapshot

    • Creates a screenshot of the main window and copies it to the clipboard. A system beep can be heard if the it was successful.

  • ??

    • What? Go on, get outta here ya cheeky scamp!