Watch Folders

By the end of this page BizTray will convert matching files for you automatically, and you'll know how to stop and undo that.

Watch Folders is why BizTray is worth leaving in your tray. A rule watches a folder for files matching a pattern and converts them the same way every time, on your machine.

Open Watch Folders from the System section of the sidebar.

The header

A plain count — "This week: N files converted." — over "Watch folders convert matched files automatically, on your machine." The button on the right is Pause all (or Resume all while paused). The same checkbox lives in the tray menu.

While paused: "All watch folders are paused. New matching files are queued and will run when you resume." Nothing is lost — it runs when you resume.

Rules

Each rule shows its folder, the patterns it matches, the conversion it runs, and what happens to the original. Each has an On checkbox and a Delete rule button.

With no rules yet: "No watch folders yet. Convert a file by hand and BizTray will offer to automate it — or turn on a suggestion below."

Suggestions

BizTray pre-fills rules it thinks you'd want, off until you turn them on — "nothing runs automatically without your say-so." Turn on activates one.

After you convert a file by hand, a prompt may appear: Convert these automatically?, offering to watch that folder for that file type. Choose Create rule or Not now.

Activity

A log of what ran automatically, with an Undo button per entry. Empty, it reads "Nothing converted automatically yet."

What usually goes wrong

• A rule isn't firing — check its On checkbox, and check you haven't paused everything from the header or the tray.
• It converted something you didn't want — use Undo in the Activity list, then narrow the rule's pattern or delete it.