Is it just me?

[fade]

So, I went looking for a recipe my father sent me today, only to discover that I haven't cleaned out my downloads folder in quite some time. Where on earth does all this junk come from? Or am I just that bad about file organization?

Just one of those days I guess.

 

[martyp]

LOL, yeah I know exactly what you mean.

When I was archiving my Mac Pro I realised that I had 137 items in my download folder. I don't think I emptied it since I put SL on and probably about 100 of those files were just junk.

So I am now archiving my Download folder to an external HDD once a month to keep it under control.

 

[toMACsh]

My Downloads folder has 75 items in it. Is that a whole lot?

 

[EndlessMac]

I actually never use my Downloads folder. I tell all my web browsers to download to my Documents folder which I go to daily using Finder. Since I go to it daily I clean it up more often because it's too much clutter if I don't.

Also because I use Finder rather then going to the folder from the Dock in Stacks I have more options for organization and deletion. Unless I've missed it I don't see an option to delete things when using Stacks. I have to open it in Finder. I can see why people would get lazy about deleting because of that. It's also less work if I do it daily which is only like 1-3 files to delete or organize a day.

Most of my downloaded files are temporary files so I just delete them right after I finish using them such as installing an app I downloaded from the internet. It's very quick to do so when I'm already in Finder. The rest I just move them to the correct folder I want to store them in.

 

[fade]

The worst part was seeing my laziness in action. I had 4 copies of my syllabus for my math class last semester. Apparently, I was too lazy to find the other 3 that I had downloaded. All the PDF's I downloaded while doing research for papers that I didn't use and/or never organized. Little things like that.

Oh, and I had well over 300 files in mine... Just since September of last year. Lots of dmg's for programs I've tried. Documents that I've emailed for one reason or another. Heck, there were 5 copies of my resume. Quite a few school related items. Some music my brother made and sent to me. .torrent files for my never ending linux addiction. It's just funny to see all of it all at once.

 

[carleymarie]

The worst part was seeing my laziness in action. I had 4 copies of my syllabus for my math class last semester. Apparently, I was too lazy to find the other 3 that I had downloaded. All the PDF's I downloaded while doing research for papers that I didn't use and/or never organized. Little things like that.

You are not alone. That sounds exactly like my downloads folder. I used to be so organized and everything moved from there to its proper folder, but it just hasn't been happening lately. Sigh . . .

 

[Kevriano]

Funnily I clear my downloads folder as soon as I have unstuffed or used the thing I have downloaded. Same with documents too. Once the item is where it's needed, clear the folder.

 

[bobtomay]

My downloads folder use to look like that. Had over 200 items in it at one time. From apps to Amazon music to Audible books. It was like 10GB in size... and was backing up to my Time Machine backup... ooops.

I still download tons of stuff. So, finally got in the habit of cleaning it out once every week or so and manage to keep it under 10-20 items most of the time now... and of course removed it from the TM backup list.

 

[Emptee]

I maximize my downloads folder to the fullest. I have it on my stock and have every thing transfered there. I'm very OCD when it comes to organization with every thing on my computer. I'm in the same boat as kev, I clear things out as soon as I don't need it.