File organizer: A Bash Script to Keep Your Directories Clean

Tired of cluttered folders filled with random files? file_organizer is a lightweight Bash script designed to help you automatically sort files into folders based on their extensions. Whether you're organizing your Downloads folder, a development workspace, or log directories, this script makes it simple and efficient, without needing any external tools.

Features

• Automatically organizes files by extension

• Files without extensions go into an "others" folder.

• Performs input validation and permission checks

• Skips directories, symlinks, and already-organized content

• Asks for user confirmation before taking action

How It Works

1. Accepts a single directory path as an argument.

2. Scans through files in the directory (ignores subdirectories).

3. Creates subfolders based on file extensions.

4. Moves files into their respective extension-named folders.

5. Prompts the user before proceeding with any changes.

Usage

Usage: ./file_organizer.sh <source_directory>

Example:
./file_organizer.sh /home/kali/Downloads

Requirements

• Bash (pre-installed on most Linux distributions)

• File permissions to read/write in the target directory

Script

#!/bin/bash

# Assign first argument to variable
SOURCE_DIR="$1"

                # Argument and Directory Validation 
# Check for correct number of arguments
if [ "$#" -ne 1 ]; then
    echo "Usage: $0 <source_directory>"
    echo "Error: Expected exactly one argument (the source directory path), but $# was given."
    exit 1
fi

# Check if the provided path is a directory and exists
if [ ! -d "$SOURCE_DIR" ]; then
    echo "Error: Directory '$SOURCE_DIR' does not exist or is not a directory."
    exit 1
fi

# Check if the directory is writable 
if [ ! -w "$SOURCE_DIR" ]; then
    echo "Error: Directory '$SOURCE_DIR' is not writable. Please check permissions."
    exit 1
fi

                # User Confirmation 
read -p "Proceed with organizing files in '$SOURCE_DIR'? (yes/no): " confirm_choice
confirm_choice=${confirm_choice,,} # Convert input to lowercase

if [[ "$confirm_choice" != "yes" ]]; then
    echo "Operation cancelled by user. No files were moved."
    exit 0
fi

echo "Starting file organization in '$SOURCE_DIR'..."
echo "------------------------------------------------"

                # File Iteration and Movement 
# Loop through all items directly within the source directory
for item in "$SOURCE_DIR"/*; do
    # Ensure we are only processing regular files (not subdirectories, symlinks, etc.)
    if [ -f "$item" ]; then
        filename=$(basename -- "$item")
        extension="${filename##*.}"  # # extracts everything after the last dot.

        # Check if the extracted extension is the same as the full filename.
        if [[ "$extension" == "$filename" || -z "$extension" ]]; then
            target_subdir="others"
        else
            # Use the extracted extension as the subdirectory name
            target_subdir="$extension" 
        fi 

        DEST_PATH="$SOURCE_DIR/$target_subdir" # Full path to the destination subdirectory

        # Create the destination directory if it doesn't exist
        if ! mkdir -p "$DEST_PATH"; then
            echo "Warning: Could not create destination directory '$DEST_PATH'. Skipping file '$filename'."
            continue # Skip to the next file in the loop
        fi

        # Move the file
        if mv "$item" "$DEST_PATH/"; then
            echo "SUCCESS: Moved '$filename' to '$target_subdir/'"
        else
            echo "WARNING: Failed to move '$filename' to '$target_subdir/'. Check permissions or if a file with the same name exists."
        fi
    fi
done

echo "------------------------------------------------"
echo "File organization process complete."

Output

List directory contents.

Run the script

Where This Can Be Useful:

• Organizing Downloads, Documents, or Desktop

• Cleaning up software project directories

• Sorting server logs and reports

• Pre-processing data folders for backup or archiving

Conclusion

The file_organizer script is a great way to add order to chaos with just one command. Whether you're a developer, sysadmin, or just like a tidy machine, it's a must-have in your Bash toolkit.