Make Your Mac Clean Up After Itself.
Hazel watches your folders and quietly does the work you keep putting off. It renames, sorts, files, and tidies on its own, by rules you set once. This Field Guide takes you from your very first rule to a Mac that runs itself. No programming required.
Your Downloads folder is a swamp.
The Desktop is covered in icons. Downloads is a thousand files deep. Half of them are named things like “scan_0007.pdf” and you have no idea what they are.
You keep meaning to sort it out. You never do.
The maddening part is that filing is the same handful of moves over and over. Rename the thing, drop it in the right folder, tag it, toss the junk. It’s boring, it’s repetitive, and it’s exactly the kind of work a computer should be doing instead of you.
That’s Hazel. Set the rules once and your Mac keeps itself clean from then on. This Field Guide shows you how, from your first rule to workflows you’d never have thought a Mac could run on its own.
Set the rule once. Hazel does the rest, forever.
A Hazel rule is just two halves. When this happens, do that. You tell Hazel what to watch for, then hand it a list of actions, and it runs them every time, on its own.
The magic is how far that simple idea reaches. Hazel can read inside a document, pull out the date and the sender, rename the file, and drop it in the right folder. It can sort your Downloads, empty your trash, file your photos, and clean up after apps you delete. It can even run AppleScript to do just about anything on your Mac.
This guide builds it up one rule at a time, starting from a blank slate, with more than twenty real-world rules demonstrated on screen. The content-based filing chapter alone is the part people tell me paid for the whole course.
No code to start. Just rules you set once, working while you do something better.
Everything Hazel can do, one rule at a time
Hazel is small on the surface and deep underneath. The course starts with the mechanics, then works through the whole range of what those simple rules can automate. Here’s the shape of it.
Rules, Triggers & Actions
The heart of Hazel. How a rule is built, how conditions and actions fit together, and how to preview a rule so you know exactly what it will do before it runs.
Master of Documents
Hazel reads inside your files. Pull dates and text out of a document, name it properly, file it in the right place, and apply tags automatically as it lands.
Tamer of Files
Point Hazel at your Downloads folder and your Desktop and never tidy them by hand again. Set the rules once and your Mac stays clean on its own.
Media Automation
Send images to Photos, sort and archive folders of pictures by date, rename them as they go, and drop new music into your library, all without lifting a finger.
Remote Control
Push Hazel further with AppleScript and services like IFTTT. Lock your Mac when you leave the house, play music when you get home, send an email, or add a task to OmniFocus.
Trash & App Sweep
Have Hazel empty the trash on a schedule or when it gets too big, and delete apps completely, sweeping up all the stray support files a normal drag-to-trash leaves behind.
A Mac that keeps itself tidy
By the end you won’t just know how Hazel works. You’ll have real rules running on your own Mac, quietly doing the filing and cleanup you used to do by hand.
- A Downloads folder and Desktop that stay clean on their own.
- Documents named and filed automatically the moment they arrive.
- Photos and media sorted into place without you touching them.
- The confidence to write a rule for any repetitive chore you spot.
- Advanced tricks with AppleScript that make your Mac feel like magic.
- Hours back every month, and a computer that finally works for you.
“Saving me a ton of time”
“David’s Hazel course is saving me a ton of time. I am part way through the course, and I’ve already gone from one Hazel rule (which I’ve had for years) to more than 40 Hazel rules! David’s instructions are very clear and he makes it easy to learn how to create your own Hazel rules.”
“MacSparky Field Guides break content down into small and easy to consume pieces. It makes learning an app so easy and approachable. It then becomes a great reference where you can brush up on areas that you don’t often use without wasting time.”
Who this is for, and who it is not
This is for you if
You’re tired of doing the same file chores by hand.
- Your Downloads folder and Desktop are a mess you keep meaning to fix.
- You want files named, sorted, and filed for you, automatically.
- You scan or download documents and want them handled the moment they land.
- You’re on a Mac and want it to do the boring work so you don’t have to.
This is not for you if
Be honest with yourself on these.
- You’re on Windows, or you only use an iPad. Hazel is a Mac app.
- You genuinely enjoy filing everything by hand.
- You want a cloud service. Hazel runs right on your Mac.
- Your Mac is already spotless and nothing new ever lands on it.
From your first rule to running the whole Mac
Two and a half hours across 35 short lessons, updated for Hazel 5, with more than twenty real rules built on screen. The whole course is also available as combined videos for easy offline download.
The Mechanics
Start from a blank slate and learn how a Hazel rule actually works.
- Why Hazel, your first rule, triggers and actions
- Name-based and content-based filing, dates from documents
- Tagging, and how the iPhone fits into a Hazel workflow
Automate the Filing
Turn the mechanics into real rules that keep your Mac clean.
- Downloads and Desktop sort, auto-creating subfolders
- Conditional filing, Spotlight integration, smart folders
- The Action Folder, and using a URL as a source
The Fun Stuff
The rules that make people say a Mac can really do that.
- Send pictures to Photos, sort and archive media, send music to your library
- Send PDFs to iPad, send email, and add tasks to OmniFocus
- Hazel Speaks, flag overdue files, and more
Power Moves & Upkeep
The advanced tricks, plus keeping Hazel healthy on the current version.
- AppleScript and IFTTT, lock your Mac remotely, play music on arrival
- Trash management, the App Sweep, rule syncing, and settings
- The full set of Hazel 5 updates and the current interface
The whole course is available as combined videos for easy offline download, and it starts assuming you know nothing about Hazel.
One price. Everything included.
No subscription. No upsells. No tiers. One purchase, and the whole guide is yours.
Everything, $49
- 35 video lessons, 2.5 hours of streaming or downloadable instruction
- More than twenty real-world Hazel rules built step by step
- Combined videos for easy offline download
- Updated for Hazel 5, with no programming required
- Lifetime access, on any Mac you own
Check out with Stripe
Secure checkout, taxes handled, receipt in your inbox.
Your invite arrives
A second email lands moments later with your personal access link.
Write your first rule
Everything is waiting in the MacSparky community, ready when you are.
David Sparks
David started MacSparky in 2007 and has spent the years since teaching people to get more out of their technology and their time. He programmed his first computer in 1980 and has been on a quest to be more productive with Apple gear ever since.
He publishes the MacSparky blog, cohosts the Mac Power Users and Focused podcasts, and runs the MacSparky Labs, where he goes deep on workflows every week. He’s a past speaker at Macworld and the ABA TechShow.
Hazel is one of David’s favorite Mac apps, and one of the first he reaches for when a chore starts repeating. This guide hands you the automation habits he’s built over years of letting his Mac do the boring work.
Frequently asked
Do I need to own Hazel first? +
Yes. Hazel is a separate app from Noodlesoft, and it has a free trial. The course starts with getting it installed, so you can follow along from the very beginning.
Does this work on my iPad or iPhone? +
Hazel is a Mac app, so the automation runs on your Mac. There’s a lesson on how your iPhone fits into a Hazel workflow, but there’s no iPad, iPhone, or Windows version of Hazel itself.
I’m brand new to Hazel. Is this too advanced? +
Not at all. The course assumes you know nothing about Hazel and builds your first rule from scratch, then ramps up to advanced techniques. There’s no programming required, and plenty of longtime users tell me they still picked up new tricks.
Which version of Hazel does it cover? +
The course is updated for Hazel 5, the current version, and walks through its interface and features in full.
How is the course delivered? +
The Field Guide lives in the MacSparky community. After you buy, you get two emails: a receipt from the payment processor, then an invitation with your access link. Click it, set up your account, and every video is waiting for you.
What’s the refund policy? +
14-day money-back guarantee, no questions asked. If the course isn’t for you, write in within the first 14 days and you get a full refund.
Make your Mac clean up after itself
Every hour you spend renaming and filing is an hour Hazel could have handled. Set the rules once, and your Mac keeps itself in order from here on out.