I thought I might be in need of a “shelf” app for macOS but in reading posts here about Yoink and the like, it seems that’s not actually what I’m after.
My use case is every so often I need to work on a small project that needs me to access several folders on my local SSD, plus one on my wife’s computer (over the network). The local folders are different every time (though are near one another in the folder hierarchy), and the one on my wife’s computer is the same every time. I also need to access a small number of files that are the same every time.
Usually, I just leave a few Finder windows open and don’t close them until I’m done, but that isn’t always practical. I got to thinking the other day it would be useful to have something I can easily set up each time that would let me access the relevant places quickly and easily. I thought about just dragging them into the Finder sidebar, but that’s already heavily populated and can’t be sectioned or hierarchical. I’d like these things to be “in their own place”.
Does anyone know of an app or some built-in functionality I can use for this purpose? Bonus points if there is some way I could tell the remote folder from the local one of the same name!
I have File Cabinet Pro for a similar use case and find it pretty useful.
Apart from that, I believe a dedicated Finder window populated with folder aliases could also do the trick, but FCP is more convenient as it lives in the menubar.
I have a number of folders that I need to access quickly so I have set a ‘Quick’ Tag on each of them in Finder. Then I have my Tags showing in the Sidebar using settings so they are all just one click away. And easily added or removed, plus can be added to Files.
Since no one’s mentioned it yet, I’ll put in a word for an old MPU favorite: Default Folder X. It gives you quick access to favorite folders from within Open and Save dialog boxes, and you can open Finder windows to these same favorite folders via the menu bar.
I am a giant fan of Keyboard Maestro. I created a start up macro that opens several finder folder windows for what I want (projects - clients etc.) and then positions them exactly where I want them on the screen (top left – top right – Bottom half etc.)
Then in addition it opens several apps that I will be using and positions them also on the screen wherever I want.
Another option is to use tags and Smart Folders / saved searches.
What I do is apply a tag called “active” to active (!) files and folders. I have a saved search in the finder sidebar for this tag. That provides an easy way to have a location where I can accumulate stuff I am working on regardless of where they actually are in the file system.
I have a Keyboard Maestro macro that takes as a parameter a list of tags to add and/or remove and applies that list to the current finder selection. I have buttons on my StreamDeck to run that Macro with action as the tag to add or remove, and an Alfred workflow to do the same, making this a very efficient process.
Because the search uses Spotlight metadata, however, I don’t know if you could use this for files and folders on a network drive, however.
Thanks everyone! Lots of good stuff here. I think I will have a play with native tags, which, ironically, I “don’t use” because I can never think of a problem they solve.
The network folder may not work this way, but at least that is a fixed location so I may be able to throw a Shortcut or some such at that particular one.
