Sortwise help

Getting started

The first time Sortwise starts, a short tour lets you pick templates and choose how to begin:

• Apply to new files only (recommended): nothing already in your folders moves.
• Also tidy existing files now: you see exactly what will happen, and confirm, first.

After that, Sortwise lives in the notification area (the tray) near the clock. Left-click the icon for the flyout: status, a pause toggle, recent activity with Undo, and Open Sortwise. Right-click for Pause all, Run all rules now…, Settings and more. If the icon is hidden under the ^ arrow, drag it onto the taskbar.

To watch another folder, open Sortwise and click + next to Folders.

Building a rule

Open a folder and click New rule. A rule reads like a sentence: If a condition and (or or) another, then do these actions.

• Conditions: Name, Extension, Kind (Image, PDF, Installer, Screenshot and more), Size, Date created, Date modified, Date added, Downloaded from, and Content.
• Actions: Move to folder, Copy to folder, Rename, Send to Recycle Bin, Archive (zip), Sort into subfolder, Open with app, Show notification, and Stop processing more rules.

Destinations and new names can use tokens, for example Invoices\{year}\{month} or {date:yyyy-MM-dd} {name}. Other tokens include {ext}, {counter}, {parent}, {kind} and {Documents}.

Each file goes through a folder's rules from top to bottom. Drag rules to reorder them, or use Alt+Up and Alt+Down. If a file with the same name is already there, the rule can add a number, replace the old file (it goes to the Recycle Bin), or skip.

Preview and Run now

The preview under each rule lists the files it matches right now and what would happen to each, like IMG_2201.png → Screenshots\2026\10\2026-10-25 14.03.png.

Rules only touch new files unless you ask. To apply a rule to what is already there, click Save & run on existing files…, or choose Run now on existing files… from the rule's More menu. You always see the count first. Above 50 files (change this in Settings › Safety) you also confirm that you have checked the list. Long runs show progress and can be cancelled.

How automatic sorting works

• Sortwise waits 5 seconds after a file stops changing, so downloads and saves can finish. Files your browser is still downloading are ignored.
• A file in use by another app shows Waiting: in use in Activity and is retried. After 10 minutes Sortwise tells you and tries again at the next re-check.
• Folders are re-checked every 15 minutes, and again when Sortwise starts, so changes made while it was closed are caught.
• Cloud-only files (for example in OneDrive) are never downloaded just to check them.
• A removable or network folder that disconnects shows Unavailable and resumes when it comes back.
• If two rules keep moving a file back and forth between watched folders, Sortwise shows Rule loop detected and pauses the rule.

Change the wait time and re-check interval in Settings › General.

Activity and Undo

The Activity page lists everything Sortwise did in the last 30 days. Search it, filter it, or show Problems only. A rule that handled many files at once appears as one batch.

• Undo puts a single file back.
• Undo batch reverses a whole run, including restoring files from the Recycle Bin.

If something is now in the way at the original location, Sortwise asks: Keep both puts the file back with a number added, Replace sends the file in the way to the Recycle Bin, or Skip. Clear log… empties the history.

Keyboard shortcuts

These work from anywhere in Windows while Sortwise is running.

Trial and license

Sortwise is free to try for 14 days, with everything turned on. After that: Rules stop running on their own. Run now still works for one rule a day, and Activity and Undo always keep working.

Entering your license key

1. Buy a license. Your key appears on screen as soon as the payment goes through, and arrives by email.
2. In Sortwise, open the License page in Settings.
3. Paste the key and choose Activate. The PC needs to be online for this step.

Using it on more than one PC

One key works on up to 3 PCs. To move it to a new PC, deactivate it on the old one from the License page first. If the old PC is gone, free up its place at Manage devices, using the email address you bought with or the key itself.

Once activated, Sortwise works offline. When it's online it checks the license about once a week, so a refunded or revoked key stops working on its next check.

Bought Sortwise in the Microsoft Store? The Store edition is licensed through your Microsoft account instead, and doesn't use a key.

Updates

To get the latest version, choose Check for updates in Sortwise. It asks before installing anything.

Each update is checked against a fingerprint (SHA-256) before it runs, and installs over the current version without touching your data. Updates for the Microsoft Store edition come through the Store.

See what’s new in each version.

Your data and uninstalling

Sortwise keeps its settings and data on your PC, in this folder (paste it into File Explorer’s address bar to open it):

%LOCALAPPDATA%\Hedgerow\Sortwise

To back it up, quit Sortwise and copy that folder.

To uninstall, open Windows Settings › Apps › Installed apps, find Sortwise and choose Uninstall. The uninstaller asks whether to remove your data too.

Still stuck?

Email support@hedgerowapps.com and we’ll get back to you. Mention your Sortwise version (shown in Settings › About) and your Windows version. More answers are on the support page.