Filtering files by kind, name, stars and dates in Disk Sort

Filters in Disk Sort by Zaweba decide which files the list shows, without moving or changing anything. There are three kinds: a kind filter that shows one type of file, a name filter with wildcards, and a photo filter for keepers, stars, edits, dates, cameras, keywords and tags. Clear all filters puts everything back.

One kind of file

Pick a single kind of file to show: pictures, video, music, documents and so on. Folders always stay visible, so you can still move around while the filter is on.

This is the filter for tidying mixed folders. A Downloads folder holds installers, documents, pictures and videos all together. Show only video and the space hogs stand out. Show only pictures and you can flick through them in thumbnails without wading past PDFs.

Names with wildcards

Ctrl+F opens the name filter. It accepts * for any run of characters and ? for a single character. So IMG_* shows files that start with IMG_, *.mov shows only MOV files, and IMG_20?? catches a numbering pattern.

The name filter shines with camera and phone files, which follow strict naming patterns, and with exports from programs that add a word like final or copy to names. It also combines with the kind filter, so you can show videos whose names contain a particular word.

The photo filter

The photo filter narrows pictures by what you've done with them or what they are. You can limit the list to keepers, to a number of stars, to edited photos, to a date range, to one camera, to a keyword, or to tagged files only.

Each of those matches a real job. Keepers only shows the results of a cull. A star filter shows your best shots for an album. Edited shows what you've already worked on. A date range pulls one holiday or one event out of a year. A camera filter separates the phone shots from the proper camera when both went into the same folder. A keyword filter finds photos that carry a particular keyword.

Filters pair with sorting. Sort by name, date, size, type or date taken, and reverse the order when you want the newest or largest first. A list of videos sorted by size, largest first, is a quick route to free space. A list of photos from one camera sorted by date taken is a clean timeline.

Filters in flat lists

Filters are at their most useful in Branch (B) and Showall (S), the flat lists. A filter on a single folder trims a short list; a filter on a whole branch or a whole drive turns thousands of files into the handful you're after. Showall plus video plus sort by size is one of the best ways to find space on a home computer.

Doing something with the matches

Once the list shows what you want, tag everything shown with Ctrl+T, and every file action works on the result: copy, move, zip, rename, export or delete to the Recycle Bin. The file list can be saved as CSV too, which gives you a record of exactly what the filter found.

Filters persist while you work, which is helpful until you forget one is on. If a folder looks oddly empty, a filter is the usual reason. Clear all filters and the full list returns.

Be careful before deleting from a filtered view. Delete all but keepers, for example, acts on every other picture in the list, so make sure the list holds only the shoot you mean.

Filters in Disk Sort by Zaweba take a few seconds to set and save a great deal of scrolling.