Documentation

Welcome to the Destonize documentation. This guide walks you through installing the application, creating organization rules, and keeping your desktop tidy with minimal effort.

Destonize is a Windows desktop application that moves files from a source folder (typically your Desktop) into destination folders based on the rules you define. Every action is logged, and the most recent operation can be reverted with a single click.

Download the latest DestonizeSetup.exe from the Download page. Run the installer and follow the setup wizard.

• Double-click DestonizeSetup.exe to launch the wizard.
• Accept the license agreement (GNU GPL v3.0).
• Choose an install location. The default is %LOCALAPPDATA%ProgramsDestonize.
• Click Install and wait for the process to complete.
• Launch Destonize from the Start menu or the desktop shortcut.

When Destonize launches for the first time, you will see a welcome screen asking for permission to access your desktop folder. Grant this permission to continue.

The main window is divided into three areas:

• Left panel - your list of saved rules.
• Center panel - details of the selected rule.
• Bottom bar - the Organize, Undo Last Move, and Settings buttons.

Click Organize... to open the rule editor. Every rule has a name, a destination folder, and one or more conditions.

• Name - a short, memorable label for the rule.
• Destination - the folder where matching files will be moved.
• Conditions - one or more filters: file extension, name pattern, category, size range, or file age.
• Include / exclude - restrict the rule to specific subfolders.

A file is moved only when every condition in the rule matches. This lets you write narrow, safe rules that never touch files you did not intend to move.

Once your rules are ready, click Organize in the bottom bar. Destonize scans the source folder, applies every rule in order, and moves matching files.

• The progress bar shows the current rule and the number of files processed.
• Conflicts (files with the same name) are resolved by appending a numeric suffix.
• When finished, a summary dialog reports how many files were moved.

Every file move is recorded in the operation log. To revert the most recent run, click Undo Last Move in the bottom bar.

Undo restores files to their original locations. It is single-level: running Organize again clears the previous undo snapshot.

Open Settings from the main window to configure application-wide options.

• Automatic updates - check for a new release in the background.
• Start with Windows - launch Destonize when you sign in.
• Minimize to tray - keep Destonize running in the system tray when closed.
• Telemetry - opt-in anonymous usage statistics (off by default).

Rules can be exported as a .ize schema file, which is a plain-text JSON document. This makes it easy to back up your rules, share them with colleagues, or version them in Git.

• Export - click the export icon next to a rule.
• Import - use File, Import Schema to load a .ize file.

If something goes wrong, check the following first.

• Files are not being moved - verify that the rule conditions match the file types you expect.
• Permission denied - make sure the destination folder is writable by your user account.
• Undo did not restore files - a file may have been modified since it was moved; Destonize skips files whose content has changed.
• The application will not start - reinstall the .NET 8 Desktop Runtime from the Microsoft website.