SORT reads which camera shot each photo, when, and where, then files everything exactly the way you asked. Free, and it never sends a byte anywhere.
v1.10 · macOS 12+ and Windows 10/11 · free, no account
See it in seconds
What it saves you
By hand
With SORT
Scanning 100 GB takes two to four minutes. Moving within the same drive finishes in seconds, because nothing is rewritten.
Features
Camera model, capture time and GPS come straight out of EXIF, HEIC and QuickTime metadata, not from whatever the file happens to be called.
Device, year, month, day, place, in any order you like. A file missing one of them simply loses that level instead of landing in a junk folder.
A dry run builds the whole tree and writes nothing at all. Copy keeps your originals untouched. Move frees the space.
GPS coordinates are matched to a city from a list built into the app. No lookup leaves your machine, so nobody learns where your photos were taken.
Keep every filename byte for byte, or rebuild them from the date, the device, the city and a counter. The extension is never touched.
100 GB uses about as much memory as 100 MB, because files are streamed rather than loaded. Scanning reads only each file's header.
What it saves
Every file already carries the moment it was taken, so nobody has to open each one and read the date off it.
Four thousand photos go in a single run, rather than in batches you lose your place in twice.
iPhone, Canon, DJI, GoPro: each writes its own model into the file, so device folders need no typing.
GPS coordinates become city names offline, so a holiday groups itself without a map or a search.
They go to a folder of their own, so real photos are not buried under app captures and receipts.
The picture and its short video land in the same folder, so nothing breaks when they move.
Build the pattern once from date, device, place and a counter, and every file follows it.
A dry run writes nothing. If the structure is wrong, change it and look again at no cost.
A 100 GB library is renamed in place in seconds instead of being copied byte by byte.
The same settings file the new photos, so the hour you spent is never spent twice.
Questions
No. There is no server, no account and no analytics. SORT makes no network request at all once it is on your computer. Switch off the internet and it behaves exactly the same.
Yes. No trial, no limits, no paid version, no advertising. It is a tool CDAV.IO built and gives away.
No. Copy never touches your originals. If two files would land on the same name, the second becomes _2 and the third _3. Move copies first, checks the size matches, and only then removes the original. If a write fails, the original stays where it is.
That level disappears from its path. A photo with no location still gets its device and date folders. Nothing is dumped in an unknown bin unless you ask for one.
100 GB is fine. Files are streamed rather than loaded into memory, so a huge library uses about as much RAM as a small one. Expect two to four minutes to scan 100 GB, then your disk's own speed.
A real app in its own window. Free, no account, and it keeps working with the internet off.
Download SORTChecking the latest version…
Something went wrong
A photo SORT could not read, a folder that came out wrong, an update that would not install. It comes straight to me, and I write back when the fix is out.
Your browser will ask permission once. SORT then reads each file's metadata locally, and the bytes never leave the page.
Start from a preset or click tokens to compose your own. If a file has no GPS or no date, that level simply disappears from its path.
Screenshots / Year / Month._Others. Off means SORT leaves them alone.Optional. Keep the camera's names, or rebuild them from the capture date.
Two files with the same new name? The second becomes _2, the third _3. Extensions are always preserved.
Pick a destination outside your source folder, then decide how careful you want to be.