Many years ago (like a decade or so), I bought, used and loved Default Folder, but for whatever reason I stopped using it. Perhaps because I felt that I no longer had a need for it, after updates to MacOS. Over the last year or so, many of you have raved about it, saying that it’s indispensable, so I bought it. After using it for a few months, I honestly don’t see any value in it.
Please help understand what you all love about it, and what I can do to feel that same way about it.
Cheers!
Agree. DFX is one of those apps that I have had running for years, but rarely make use of. Perhaps its value depends on whether your operating style is to use Finder a lot. If I am accessing or arranging the filesystem hierarchy it is almost always via an app and not with Finder itself.
I find I rely on DFX when I’m doing thing like code and I want certain file types to be locked to a specific folder hierarchy
I rarely use the function and I think it’s killing File Dialog performance. I doubt I’ll be running it on the 2016 machine I’ve just got to replace my w015 15" MBP.
I was thinking about purchasing it about 10 years ago, but then I found out that you can fuzzy search for the desired folder in Alfred and drag it from Alfred to the save dialog and the save location will change. 
Game changer.
But I’ve also trained myself to work more on my Desktop as a temp folder. At the end of the day or once a small multi-day project is done I will move the files/project folders to their destination using the Alfred “move” file action.
I never knew this trick, thanks for sharing!
good trick! Thanks.
I used DFX extensively in the past, less so when I found Path Finder which gave me file management in 2 panes and Hazel, which automated renaming, indexing and filing for most files. For Hazel, I set up a standard “Autofiling” folder and everything in there gets taken care off. If something is in there for more than 10 minutes, I need to add or edit a Hazel script.
I still have DFX installed and only use it for quick selection of save-as destinations for files that not make it to the autofiling. It doesn’t take a lot of system resource to still handy to have around.
DFX is a very cool utility but I do think it shines more in non-standard situations. I ran a department at a mid-size printing company and we had several servers with a dreadful legacy filing system I inherited (and yes, waaaaay too political to change it that many years in). DFX helped the users jump through the hoops of those servers much more quickly when looking for art.
If you have a bunch of volumes to deal with, it may scratch your itch.
But then again, that’s just my experience.
Also, the developer is a very nice guy in my experience. 
I surely will and possibly in the next week 
I am happy I used the search function I had this same question. I’ve had DFX in my apps folder for 2 years and never used it! Going to dig back in
I find myself using this DFX feature enough to keep it around. Its there for me when I need it
The power of DFX are the Folder Sets and being able to target folders based on the app being used or the filetype. The people that find it indispensable are likely leveraging these rules to minimise their clicks.
Could you give an example of this folder set & app function? I can’t wrap my head around it.
Sure. I’ve got to check one thing and then I’ll update this post.
I’ve found that I can replicate many of the quick folder access that DFX does by simply adding folders to the Sidebar in the finder. I think Folder Sets are going to be highly dependent on
Because of Finder improvements I think a lot of the utility of DFX is gone but there’s still enough value that I continue to use it and support the developer.
You can effectively make rules like:
“If I’m in Safari and downloading a DMG, put it in Downloads/Installers”
“If I’m in any app and downloading an MP4 file, put it in Downloads/Media”
And of course if I’ve been doing a lot of work in Customers/SomeProject, and I’m now downloading files from the Internet, I can just mouse over to “Recent” and Customers/SomeProject will be at the top of the recent folder list. Or if I close out of one app and need to open the file in another, same thing - my recent folders (and even the recent files themselves) will be right there.
So I’m working on a graphic for a website. I save out the PNG, go to upload it to the site, hit “Recent Files”, and there it is.
It’s super-slick for certain use cases.
Thanks so much! I had no idea about this function, despite the name of the app itself. 
I just made three folder rules, and will see how it goes.
Great examples, I understand now. Many thanks, Mr. Walrus!
I think you’re right about that. And I’m sad about that because it’s a really nice piece of software. I’ve installed and then uninstalled DFX several times in the past year or two. Seemed like I could do everything I needed with two or three Finder windows open. But this conversation has showed me a few tricks. I just need to learn them and bring DFX into my everyday workflow. So thanks for the tips @hmurchison and Mr. Walrus 
(@webwalrus).
If DFX went away, I wouldn’t be completely lost without it - but it definitely makes certain things easier. And if there are problems with it, I’ve found the dev to be mind-blowingly responsive via email. Usually within an hour or two during the week.
Worth supporting devs who actually care about their product / customers. 
I have many projects running and as such I use Finder to navigate folders. DFX is useful when I use the File-Save dialog box in Word or Excel and I just need to click the right Finder window to make File-Save jump to the Finder. Saves me tons of minutes.
