FilesGoThere – Guide

A short guide to configure FilesGoThere, understand the workflow, and troubleshoot common issues.

Download latest build GitHub repository
Safety-first by design: you stay in control.
FilesGoThere screenshot
Minimal GUI • Pending / History • Settings

Quick start (2 minutes)

Start simple: choose your folders, save, then start watching.

  • Open the app → go to “Watched folders”.
  • Click “Suggest Downloads” or “Add…”, then press “Save”.
  • Press “Start watching”.
  • Select a pending item → Preview → Apply.

Workflow: Preview → Apply

Think of FilesGoThere as a helpful assistant: it suggests actions, you decide when to apply them.

  • Preview shows the target destination and warnings.
  • Apply performs the move and records it in History.
  • Archive all moves pending items to History (it doesn’t delete them).

Manual vs Auto

Manual mode is the default “safe-first” workflow. Auto mode is currently dry-run (no automatic moves).

  • Manual: generates queue entries → you Preview/Apply.
  • Auto: currently behaves like dry-run (shows what would happen).

Rules: you’re in control

FilesGoThere doesn’t decide for you: it helps you organize, but you define the rules.

In this phase rules are edited in config.json on purpose: it keeps everything transparent and fully under your control. A GUI rule editor will be added later.

Example (Videos, Documents, Images):

{
  "rules": {
    "by_extension": {
      ".mp4": "Videos",
      ".pdf": "Documents",
      ".png": "Images",
      ".jpg": "Images",
      ".jpeg": "Images"
    },
    "default_folder": "Other"
  }
}
  • by_extension: maps extension → folder
  • default_folder: where unknown extensions go

Windows SmartScreen

If Windows shows “protected your PC”, don’t panic: beta builds are unsigned, so Windows can’t verify the publisher yet.

  • Download only from the official GitHub release.
  • In SmartScreen: More info → Run anyway.

Where logs and the queue are stored (Windows)

Everything stays on your PC. These files help troubleshooting and are not uploaded anywhere. 

%LOCALAPPDATA%\FilesGoThere\config\config.json
%LOCALAPPDATA%\FilesGoThere\data\queue.jsonl
%LOCALAPPDATA%\FilesGoThere\data\queue_done.jsonl
%LOCALAPPDATA%\FilesGoThere\logs\filesgothere.log
  • filesgothere.log: event history
  • queue.jsonl: pending actions
  • queue_done.jsonl: history archive

Common issues (quick fixes)

1) No events / nothing shows up in “Pending”

  • Did you add the correct folder in “Watched folders”?
  • Did you press “Save” after adding it?
  • Did you press “Start watching”?

2) A row shows size 0

  • Normal while downloading: the row updates when the download completes.
  • If it stays at 0, wait a bit longer or check the download status in the browser.

3) “Auto” does not move files

  • In this phase Auto = dry-run: it shows what would happen, but does not move automatically.
  • To actually move files: Preview → Apply (manual workflow).

4) Duplicate file name

  • Depends on duplicate_strategy: rename / skip / overwrite.
  • With “rename” you’ll see names like file (1).ext.

5) Reset everything (fresh start)

  • Close the app.
  • Rename %LOCALAPPDATA%\FilesGoThere (e.g. FilesGoThere_backup).
  • Reopen the app: it starts clean.

FAQ

Does it upload my files? No. Everything runs locally.

Can I watch multiple download folders? Yes, add multiple paths.

Does it work with all browsers? Yes, as long as you watch the correct download folder(s).