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Flatten Folder¶

Bring nested files to the top of a folder, remove emptied subfolders, and choose how identical duplicates are handled. Use the review mode when you want to see the planned changes first.

• Access: MenuSmith Pro
• Finder availability: Single folder, Folder background

See the Flatten Folder overview and screenshots on the MenuSmith website.

Add and configure¶

1. Open Action Library and find Flatten Folder.
2. Choose a starter configuration and add it to My Finder Menu.
3. Select the new Menu Action and review its settings and availability rules in the Inspector.
4. Run it from a matching Finder context.

Settings¶

• Duplicate Handling
• Review Before Flattening
• Confirm Bulk Flatten — available when Review Before Flattening is off
• Threshold — available when Confirm Bulk Flatten is on and Review Before Flattening is off

Starter configurations¶

• Flatten Folder
• Flatten Folder (Review)

Starter configurations set initial values only. Adding one does not permanently link the Menu Action to that starter.

What it can do¶

• Move nested files to the selected folder
• Review planned moves and removals before changing anything
• Ask for confirmation above a configurable file-change threshold when Review is off
• Keep the closest, newest, or oldest identical copy
• Preserve differently named copies when needed

Typical workflow¶

1. Choose a folder in Finder
2. Review the plan, or run the saved policy and confirm if the configured threshold is exceeded
3. MenuSmith moves files, removes duplicate copies according to your policy, and removes empty subfolders

Important details¶

• The Flatten Folder starter has Review Before Flattening off and Confirm Bulk Flatten on, with a Threshold of 10. The Flatten Folder (Review) starter opens the full review instead.
• With Confirm Bulk Flatten on, confirmation appears only when the number of files to move or remove as duplicates is greater than Threshold: 11 or more at the default of 10. Unchanged files, skipped items, and empty folders do not count.
• You can turn Confirm Bulk Flatten off or set Threshold from 1 to 10,000. The confirmation shows how many files will move and how many duplicate copies will be permanently removed; Cancel stops before any files change.
• With Review Before Flattening on, the confirmation settings are hidden and no additional confirmation appears. Their values are preserved if you later turn Review off.
• Symbolic links, packages, and unreadable items are left in place.
• A review window clearly separates files to move from identical copies to remove. Duplicate copies removed during flattening are permanently deleted rather than moved to Trash.

If MenuSmith asks for access, review Authorized Folders. If the Action does not appear, check Finder Integration and the Menu Action's availability rules.