How to manage received AirDrop files with Hazel on Mac

Hazel AirDrop

Every waking day I send tons of screenshots from my iPhone to my Mac via AirDrop. And every day I wish that Apple allowed users to customize the AirDrop save location. Not only is the ~/Downloads folder the default save location, but it can’t be modified, not even via undocumented methods.

As a workaround, I use Hazel ($29 w/ free trial) to automate the process of moving images sent via AirDrop to my Desktop. It’s a great workaround that does the job. While it would be nice if Apple allowed you to specify an exact save location, this is probably the next best thing.

Step 1: Install Hazel

Step 2: Set up a rule for the downloads folder as follows:

Hazel AirDrop to Desktop

Step 3: Change any parameters that you feel you need to change

Step 4: Send an image via AirDrop, and watch Hazel do its thing

You can alter this in any way you see fit. Perhaps you don’t send photos via AirDrop, but you send something else? You can change the file extension or any other conditions to meet your needs. Hazel is an extremely deep tool for OS X automation, so I urge you to play around with it. There’s a reason it costs $29. It’s not a toy, it’s power user tool.

So yes, while it’s probably overkill to solve such a minor issue using a tool like Hazel, I’m very happy with the setup, and I’ll be using this permanently going forward. What do you think about my setup? Oh, and if you do happen to stumble upon a method for customizing the AirDrop save location, let me know.