What is Hazel?

Hazel is an organizer for your files. It is particularly geared towards all the stuff you download but can be used on any folder you see fit. It is configured via a System Preferences pane. You can set up rules to move files based on different criteria. Hazel can also clean folders and manage your trash. Check out Hazel's product page for more details.

How is Hazel different than using Folder Actions?

In many ways, Hazel resembles Folder Actions, but Hazel can do much more. Folder Actions only get triggered when a file is added or removed from a folder. As a result, it is not very effective for time-based rules such as moving files older than some period of time or in cases where you want it to detect changes like the color label changing. Hazel's rule engine is far more powerful, allowing you to create complex conditions. In addition, having several rules on the same folder become hard to deal with with Folder Actions. Hazel makes creating and maintaining these rules much easier. Lastly, Hazel can detect most cases where a file is still being downloaded or copied, in which case it will ignore the file until it is done.

What do I need to run it?

You need a Mac running OS X 10.6 (Snow Leopard) or higher. While Hazel does clean and organize, Hazel does not do Windows.

Will Hazel run on OS X 10.8 (Mountain Lion)?

Yes. Hazel runs fine on 10.8. In addition, Hazel is signed with an Apple Developer ID certificate allowing it to run under Gatekeeper's default setting.

What is the difference between the evaluation, demo and registered mode?

When you first install Hazel, it is in evaluation mode. In this mode all features except rule exporting are available. This mode lasts for 14 days giving you a chance to put Hazel through its paces.

After the evaluation period is up, Hazel switches to demo mode. In this mode, Hazel is limited to monitoring one folder and for that folder, only two rules can be active at any one time. Also, in demo mode, you cannot import or export rules and trash functions are disabled.
You may purchase a full license at any time to fully enable all features.

How much does it cost?

A full license can be purchased for $25 (US dollars) which covers a single user and up to two machines. There is also a family pack which can be installed on up to 5 computers in a household for $45. You can also upgrade from a previous version for $10.

How do I purchase a license?

Click any of the purchase buttons on the site or within Hazel itself. All transactions are encrypted so they are safe and secure. If you order directly within Hazel, your license will be downloaded and your software registered automatically. Alternatively, you can use the web store where you will be able to download your license file. In both cases, your receipt will also be emailed with your license file attached. Please contact us if you have any special ordering needs.

Is Hazel available on the Mac App Store?

Hazel is only available for sale via Noodlesoft directly. Given Apple's restrictions, there are no plans to offer Hazel on the Mac App Store. In particular, Hazel cannot be sandboxed, which is a requirement for all App Store apps.

Keep in mind that Hazel does have a proven in-app automatic update system as well as an in-app store to make upgrading a snap and purchasing a breeze.

How soon after purchasing a license will I receive it?

If you use the in-app store, the license will be downloaded immediately. If you use the web store, you can download the license yourself at the end of your order. In both cases, your license will be emailed to you. If you somehow did not receive your license file, please contact us.

Where do I send feedback/bugs?

We love feedback. Please use the form on our Support page.

What's new in Hazel 3?

Hazel 3 features a revamped rule engine. It is now more responsive and reliable and it uses fewer resources to boot. The new engine also allows for scheduling of rules. Rule conditions are far more powerful with the ability to nest conditions as well as match against a file's sub-files or parent folder. Version 3 also includes new actions for syncing and importing into Aperture. For more details, check out the What's New page.

How do I download/install the upgrade?

Since Hazel 3 is a paid upgrade, you cannot use the in-app updating system to get it. Download and install it just like you did the first time you installed Hazel. Upon install, the evaluation period will be reset so you have another 14 days to evaluate it. To make sure you keep your settings and rules, do not at any point uninstall Hazel.

Can I upgrade and if so, how much is it?

Yes, if you bought any previous version of Hazel, you can upgrade to version 3. If you purchased a license after Nov. 1, 2011, your upgrade is free. You can claim your new license here. For those purchasing before that time, the price is $10, regardless of whether you purchased a single user license or family pack. If you made a volume purchase, please contact support for upgrade discounts.

How do I purchase an upgrade?

The easiest way to upgrade is within Hazel 3 itself. Just click on the "Purchase" button in the "Info" section of the interface or in the menubar icon menu. When purchasing from within Hazel, it will automatically transmit your old license for you. You can also purchase an upgrade via the web store. Have your old license file handy as you will have to upload it to get the upgrade pricing. If you can't find your original receipt email and you are running version 3.0.1 or later, you can click on the button next to the license field to reveal your installed license. Otherwise, in Finder, you can navigate to your "Library ▸ Application Support ▸ Hazel" folder where you'll find it as a file called "license".

How do I install Hazel?

It should be easy as double-clicking the preference pane file in the disk image.

How do I uninstall Hazel?

Use the "Uninstall" button in the Info pane. It is important to uninstall using this method (as opposed to just throwing away the preference pane file) as the uninstallation also needs to undeploy some background programs and do other cleanup.

It is important to point out that you should only do this if you intend to uninstall Hazel permanently as this will also erase any settings and rules. If you just need to upgrade, see the next question.

How do I upgrade Hazel?

If Hazel detects a new version (either automatically or via the "Check Now" button), it can download and install the update for you.
If you do find that you want to upgrade manually, quit System Preferences, then double-click the new preference pane file to install over the current version. You should not need to uninstall the current version.

What kind of folders can Hazel monitor?

In general, Hazel can monitor any folder but keep in mind that certain folders may not be good candidates. For instance, P2P and other apps that might download a file slowly, may have their files moved before they are completely downloaded. In cases like this, it is best if the program has an option to download to one folder then move them automatically to another (Transmission has such an option). This second folder is the one you should have Hazel monitor.

Hazel does have special support for Safari, Chrome, Camino, Firefox, Mail and Speed Download and knows how to identify when their downloads are complete. We will be adding support for more apps as time goes on so if you have a favorite app of yours you would like supported, please let us know and we'll look into adding support.

Do I need to keep System Preferences running for Hazel to do its thing?

No, Hazel does all its work with a background program. You only need to use the System Preferences pane to configure it.

When does Hazel run?

When it needs to. It tries to detect changes to the folders being monitored as they happen and will also run when certain time based events occur. If for some reason you want to run your rules manually, you can trigger a run on a folder by selecting "Run Rules Now" (it's in that thingy with the gear). Also, if you want to stop Hazel (for instance, if you are doing a lot of edits to your rules, you can just click the "Stop" button in the "Info" pane or in the menubar item menu. Lastly, you can pause rules for an individual folder by selecting "Pause Rules" (again, in the gear pull-down menu)

I am using the sample rules that came with Hazel and now all my files are blue. What's going on?

One of the sample rules sets the Finder color of the file to blue when a file has been recently added. Please see the next question.

I have just set up Hazel to monitor a folder and it thinks all my files were just added (i.e. the "Date Added" attribute) even though these files have been there for some time. Is this a bug?

Until 10.7 (Lion) was released, "Date Added" is not an attribute recorded by OS X so Hazel records it itself. As a result, any files already in a folder when Hazel first scans it are considered newly added. Any files added afterwards, though, should have an accurate "Date Added" attribute. Note that this also applies to the Trash when determining how long a file has been sitting there.

Note that from Lion onwards, "Date Added" is recorded so Hazel will use that in conjunction with it's own records to determine this value. This problem can still arise, though, if you upgraded to Lion as files that existed before the upgrade will not have a "Date Added" recorded.

How do I exclude files from being processed?

Use the "Ignore file" action. Make the first rule match the files you want to ignore and set the action to "Ignore file". Since Hazel stops processing rules after the first match, the subsequent rules in the list will not be applied to any files that match this rule.

How do I do a "catch-all" rule that applies to files not matching any of the other rules?

Use the "Any file" condition for the last rule in the list. Anything that doesn't match the previous rules will match this one. Just set any actions on it you like.

Can Hazel go into subfolders?

Normally, Hazel only processes the files and folders at the top level. If you would like Hazel to descend into a folder, create a rule to match the folders you would like Hazel to go into, and set the action to "Run rules on folder contents". This causes Hazel to run the rule set against any files and folders inside the folder that matched the rule. Note that the action will fail if used on a file, so it is important to make sure that the rule has a condition specifying "Kind is folder". A more detailed explanation, as well as a downloadable rule, has been written up here.