The Main Hazel Window

The primary place you’ll interact with Hazel is in its main window.

Here are the major components of the Hazel window:

Toolbar ⓵ : The icons here control major Hazel functions. There are ten icons in three groups.

Add Folder: Click this icon to add a new folder for Hazel to monitor. See Manage Folders .
New Group: Click this icon to create a new folder group (to organize monitored folders). See Manage Folders .
Folder Options: Access the two “Throw away” options, just like choosing Folder > “Folder Options.” See the “Set Folder Options” topic in Manage Folders .
Action: Use this pop-up menu to import, export, sync, pause, and resume rules, and to adjust folder options. See Manage Rules .

New Rule: Click this icon to add a new rule to the selected folder. See Create a Rule .
Rule Status: Click this icon to display a window showing which rules have applied and when. See Show Rule Status .
/ Pause/Resume Rules: Click this icon to pause (or resume) rule processing for the selected folder. See Enable, Disable, or Pause Rules .
Preview Rule : Enable preview mode to see whether a rule will match a selected item, just as if you had chosen Rule > “Preview Rule.” See Preview a Rule .

Search: Click this icon and type a search term to filter your list of rules. See Search Rules .
Detach Rule Editor: Click this icon to display the rule editor in an independent floating window. See Detach the Rule Editor .

You can also optionally add two more tools that don’t appear by default. Choose View > “Customize Toolbar” and drag either of these to the desired location:

Rule Sync: Click this to set up syncing for the currently selected folder; equivalent to choosing Folder > “Rule Sync Settings.” See Sync Rules .
Run Rules Now: Run the rules for the selected folder now, which works the same as choosing Rule > “Run Rules Now.” See Run Rules Manually .

“Folders” list ⓶ : This list contains all the folders you’ve asked Hazel to watch. By default, it contains only one folder—Downloads. (Note: You can add a folder to Hazel without assigning any rules to it, but every rule you create must be attached to a folder.)
“Rules” list ⓷ : This list contains all the rules you’ve created (or imported) for the currently selected folder. Select the checkbox next to a rule’s name to enable it; deselect it to disable that rule. (In this example, all rules are disabled.)
Rule editor ⓸ : This pane is where you define the logic of your rules—what action(s) occur in response to what condition(s). See Create a Rule .