Ask HN: Do you clean out your downloads folder after each download?
What other file manager cleaning procedures or organizational schemes do you maintain? I work under the assumption that anything in the downloads folder is up for deletion at any point in time. I periodically just delete everything in there without so much as a glance I used to have my desktop as a downloads and temporary files area. I had a cron job set up which moved all files unmodified in a couple days to a separate temp archive folder. I had another cron job which deleted all files older than 6 months from that archive folder. (By older, I mean comparing the last modified date). The act of moving a file away from the desktop or that archive folder meant I wanted to keep it. Bonus points: my desktop tended to be clean despite me creating lots of random temporary files on it. At some point, while switching between OSes, I stopped porting that 2 scripts. I should probably write them again... My downloads folder is /tmp. If it's needed, I'll move the file to an appropriate location in Documents. Most systems clear /tmp on bootup or shutdown. While most of us keep our machines running 24/7, we don't know when a shutdown might be required at a moment's notice. If you weren't on your toes, that means that lots of stuff you might have wanted to keep disappears into the bit-bucket. I keep my 'temporary-save' or downloaded items in the Downloads folder (also linked to a shorter name: 'dl'). From there they either get moved into selected folders for long-term keeping, or get deleted. Most items are there for less than a day. Some items I might save to look at within a few days, sometimes even a week. Absolutely not. Not entirely sure why though. I just checked it yesterday, and there’s stuff since my last reset about a year ago. Really, if you’re a disorganized weirdo like me lmao it helps you remember where some files are. The other day I was looking for some video transformation software I used months ago but couldn’t find it. I tried everything. Last resort? I checked my downloads from 5 months ago and found it. Video Proc. But don’t even get me started on my desktop or folders named desktop files because that’s another story. At work I have a PS script to move everything older than a few days in Downloads to an Archive folder where they sit for a few extra days "in case" and then to the recycle bin. It runs every time I log on to the machine. At home, I really want to do the same, but already have too many things to catch-up on organizing. I do have a dummy file name "!! Downloads is not permanent" So it usually sorts to the top. If I know what I would do with the file (eg I downloaded Shortcut yesterday, intenting to use it) I usually move it (cut and paste, and I prefer portable apps) so they don't clutter the D. folder. But the other files... well, once in a while I just open the D. folder (every year or two?) and if I can't find a place or a reason to store this file - Del, or for things like FirefoxPortable92.1.6.9.0.exe - Shift+Del I clean it up when it clogs and feels uncomfortable to browse (or just too big). I also have Downloads/Persistent, where safe to lose but useful distros and downloads reside. I wish programs and systems could just access small files through the browser as if it was a local folder, that would reduce the need for all that. Most of the time it’s software in my /downloads folder. Since software is always getting updated I delete the copy and I can reliably get the latest release when I need it. Software that I suspect will not be updated and not have an online download link in the near future is kept. I have a small library of abandonware you can’t even download anymore. All of my downloads folders are huge unwieldy messes. I clean them out on the occasion that I want to feel conscientious. Otherwise I can't be bothered. Now, in decades past, when I had but one or two hundred megabytes to mess with, I would assiduously comb through nearly every folder by hand to keep the drive clean and neat. Now, with thousands of gigabytes I'm supremely lazy. My downloads folder on my mac is 59GB. You can thank movies and virtual machines for that. Heavens, no. My cleaning procedure is to ignore it, get frustrated, then wipe out a lot of stuff. I don't advocate the procedure. Funny but one time I was in a long flight without any TV/Internet and decided to spend my time cleaning out the downloads folder. Took me about 3 hours. That almost 2 years ago and here I am with my downloads folder again with a few hundred files. Dang it. I use Hazel to move the file to an archive folder after a month. The idea is if I haven’t deleted it by then I want to keep it but don’t have anywhere specific to store it. I clean out the archive less than I should. I do not use the downloads folder. I download it where I want them to be. Windows has this built in and even when enabled I've never once seen it actually clean anything up. Source: got some files from 2020. I just have a cron job delete things that are older than three days. Putting it on tmpfs would be a bit too shortlived for me. Why would I ever do that? It's all the stuff I need to reinstall if something goes wrong. It's well backed up. I'm syncing my downloads folder to different devices. Often I delete lots of stuff manually. I never use the downloads folder. I always download to where I want the thing to go.