ElegantNameTagsTypeModifiedSize
fridge-warranty-scan.pdf
warrantyPDFyesterday1.2 MBIMG_4029.jpg
—ImageTue3.4 MBlease-agreement-2026.docx
—DocumentMon88 KBgpu-driver-setup.exe
—AppMon57 MBWarranties 2026
—FolderJun 8—Elegant File Explorer watches your folders and files everything automatically, by rules you set once, the same way Hazel works on the Mac. Add a dry-run simulation before anything moves, one-click undo, and OCR that reads inside your PDFs — built native for Windows 10 and 11.
Set a rule once and a folder keeps itself in order, the same way Hazel does on the Mac — built native for Windows 10 and 11. A folder watcher acts the moment a file lands. No Task Scheduler scripts, no PowerShell that breaks silently.
Before a rule touches anything, a dry run lists exactly which file goes where, with honest impact counts. Approve it, then apply. Change your mind and one click reverses the run. These are the two things Hazel never had.
What identifies a document lives inside it, not in its filename. Native Windows OCR reads scanned PDFs; DOCX and text files are read from their own text — so rules and the Ctrl+Space search can match on meaning, not just the name.
The automation is the headline. Underneath it is a complete, modern Windows file manager.
Ctrl+T, Ctrl+W and Ctrl+1 to 9, next to a pane that renders PDF pages and shows Office text and thumbnails.
Full-content SHA-256, review-first. Nothing is auto-selected and nothing is hard-deleted.
Tag any file, attach a date, and a bell rings when it is due. Tags follow the file when it moves.
Move the same kind of file to the same folder three times in 30 days and the app offers to make it a rule — privately, from folders and extensions only.
Rename a whole selection with a live before-and-after preview.
Locale-aware packs for Brazil, the US, the UK, Spain and Latin America sit next to the global ones — something Hazel never shipped.
Hazel 6 is alive and well on the Mac. There is still no Windows build, and most of what appeared on Windows in the meantime wants your files uploaded first.
The current release is Hazel 6.1.2, from February 2026, around $42, requiring macOS 13.5 or later. Nothing on this page argues that Hazel went stale — it did not. It simply does not run here, and it never has.
In June 2026 Google made Organize My Files generally available in Drive: Gemini reads your folder structure and suggests where the loose files should go. It is genuinely useful — and it only works on files that already live on Google’s servers.
Since late 2025 the Explorer right-click menu can blur a background, erase an object or summarize a document — the last one needing a Microsoft 365 subscription and a Copilot licence, and not yet available in the EEA. It reads your file and it edits your file. It still does not file your file.
Rules, not guesses: the same folder always produces the same plan, and you read the plan before it runs. Nothing is uploaded, nothing is sent anywhere to be analysed, and you can check that by pulling the network cable — the app keeps working. What leaves goes to the Recycle Bin, and every run reverses in one click. It is a one-time purchase, and the 176 ready-made recipes come with it.
SourcesNoodlesoft release notes · Google Workspace Updates, June 2026 · Windows Central on AI actions in File Explorer
Hazel is a beloved automation tool for macOS. It simply does not run on Windows. Here is the rest of the comparison.
| Feature | Elegant File Explorer | Hazel |
|---|---|---|
| Runs on Windows 10 / 11 | Yes, native | No, macOS only |
| Simulate before applying | Every run | No |
| One-click undo after a run | Yes | No |
| Reads inside PDFs (OCR) | Yes | No |
| Ready-made recipes by country | 176 | No |
| Real-time folder watching | Yes | Yes |
| 100% local, no cloud or account | Yes | Yes |
| License | One-time | One-time |
No subscription. No feature locked behind a higher tier. Try it for 15 days, then it is a one-time purchase — yours for good, running entirely on your PC.
Same core idea: rules watch folders and act on files automatically. On top of that you get a dry-run preview, full undo, OCR content matching and a complete file manager — tabs, preview, instant search — in the same app.
No. It is 100% local: no account, no cloud, no telemetry. Your files and rules never leave your PC.
Yes. Native Windows OCR reads PDFs, even scanned ones, plus DOCX and TXT, and rules can match content with plain text or regex.
No. One-time purchase on the Microsoft Store; updates to the current version arrive automatically.
Everything you loved about Hazel, plus the two things it never had: a preview first, and an undo after. Undo stays one click away.