At a glance
- Fires when
- A file inside the folder is created, modified, or deleted
- Emits
- Path, name, parent directory, extension, file type, change type, timestamp
- Works with
- Local folders, iCloud Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive, Google Drive
Set it up
Pick the folder, say whether subfolders count, and choose which changes you care about. macOS file-system events do the watching, so nothing polls.
Configure
| Field | Default | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Directory | — | The folder to watch. Choose it with the picker. |
| Watch Subdirectories | On | Watch everything nested inside too. Off means this folder's own files only — a subfolder appearing or going away does not fire. |
| Event Types | Created | Created, Modified, Deleted, or All Events. |
| Wait for iCloud download | On | If a file syncs in before its bytes reach this Mac, download it first and fire once it is complete. Turn off to fire on the placeholder. |
| Custom Arguments | — | Extra key-value pairs merged into the payload. |
Output
Every key is available downstream as {{key}}.
| Key | Type | Value |
|---|---|---|
filePath | String | Full path of the changed file |
fileName | String | Name, with extension |
directory | String | Parent directory path |
fileExtension | String | Lowercased, no dot: dmg |
fileType | String | Images, Documents, Audio, Videos, Spreadsheets, Presentations, Archives, or Other |
changeType | String | created, modified, or deleted |
timestamp | String | When the change was seen, ISO 8601 |
Example: file downloads by type
Directory Changed watches ~/Downloads. Move File sends each arrival to ~/Documents/Sorted/{{fileType}}/{{fileName}}. Notification says where it went.
Paste this into the Flow Builder to get the same flow:
Watch ~/Downloads and move each new file into a folder under ~/Documents/Sorted named after its file type, then notify me.
Files already in the folder
This trigger only reacts to new files. Files already in the folder don't run on their own — when you switch the flow on, Watchflows asks what to do with them. See Folder Sweep + Preview Mode.
Good to know
A flow that moves files out of the folder it watches can re-trigger itself. Event Types defaults to Created for exactly that reason — with All Events, your own deletions come straight back round.
One file you already know the path of? Use File Changed. Directory Changed is for a folder whose contents you cannot name in advance.