QuickToss

Clean out a cluttered folder the way you'd swipe through a dating app: one file at a time, left to toss, right to keep.

Point QuickToss at a folder — Downloads is the usual suspect — and it shows you each file with a preview so you can decide in a second. Deleted files go to the system Trash, and every action can be undone, so there's nothing to be nervous about.

Download

Grab the latest version from the releases page. What changed in each one is in CHANGELOG.md.

QuickToss ships for macOS 12 and later as a single universal download — QuickToss-<version>-universal.dmg — that runs natively on both Apple Silicon and Intel. It's about 6 MB.

First launch: "QuickToss.app is damaged"

If macOS refuses to open the app with a message saying it's damaged, the app isn't actually broken — QuickToss isn't signed with a paid Apple Developer certificate yet, and macOS blocks unsigned apps downloaded from the internet.

To allow it, run this once in Terminal:

xattr -cr /Applications/QuickToss.app

Then open the app normally. You'll need to repeat this after installing a new version. Removing this friction is tracked in #7.

Updates

QuickToss checks for new versions on launch and shows a notice when one is available. Installing is manual for now — the notice links to the release page. (Automatic in-place updates also need the code signing from #7.)

Using it

1. Click Select Folder to Organize and pick a folder.
2. For each file, decide:
   • Toss — swipe left, press ← or Backspace, or click the red button. The file goes to the Trash.
   • Keep — swipe right, press → or Space, or click the green button. The file is left alone.
3. When you reach the end, you get a summary of what you cleared.

Keyboard shortcuts

Key	Action
← or Backspace	Toss (move to Trash)
→ or Space	Keep
I	Show/hide file details
O	Open the file in whatever app owns it
Cmd+Z	Undo the last action

Tips

• Start with Downloads. It's almost always the biggest win.
• Don't overthink it — Cmd+Z undoes any decision.
• Nothing is permanently deleted. Tossed files sit in your Trash until you empty it.

What it can preview

• Images — JPEG, PNG, GIF, WebP, BMP, TIFF, HEIC
• Documents — PDF, Word, PowerPoint, Excel, RTF, and plain-text formats (TXT, MD, LOG, JSON, XML, CSV, YAML)
• Video — MP4, MOV, AVI (poster frame; press O to play it)

Anything macOS can draw, QuickToss shows, because it asks macOS: previews come from the same Quick Look renderer behind Finder's space-bar preview. A slide deck looks like the deck, not like a list of its text.

Video is the exception — you get the poster frame rather than playback, and O opens the file in QuickTime. Improving that is tracked in #37.

Your files stay yours

• QuickToss makes no network requests with your files — everything happens locally. It only talks to GitHub to check whether a newer version exists.
• Tossed files go to the system Trash, never a permanent delete.
• It only reads the folder you explicitly choose.

Built with

QuickToss is a native Rust app built on GPUI, the GPU-accelerated UI framework behind the Zed editor, with GPUI Kit for its components. It moved off Electron in 2.0 — ADR 0002 explains what that bought and what it cost.

Contributing

Setup, architecture, and the release process are in CONTRIBUTING.md. Bug reports and ideas are welcome in issues.

License

MIT.