Sort and archive old files based on their last modified date

📂 Declutter Your Digital Life: Automating File Organization with Python 🤖

As the digital world continues to evolve, our files and documents accumulate at an alarming rate. It’s effortless to get overwhelmed by the sheer volume of digital clutter, making it challenging to find what you need when you need it. 🤯

One effective approach to regain control is to sort and archive your files based on their last modified date. This straightforward technique not only declutters your digital space but also enables you to easily access and manage your files. 🔑

In this post, we’ll explore a Python-based solution to automate this process. Using Python’s built-in modules, we’ll create a script that efficiently sorts and archives your files, saving you valuable time and effort. 💻

**Step 1: Gathering Requirements**

Before we dive into the code, let’s define what we want to achieve:

1. **Input**: Provide the directory path where your files are stored.
2. **Output**: Move or archive files to a designated directory based on their last modified date.

**Step 2: Writing the Python Script**

Let’s create a Python script that accomplishes this task. We’ll use the `os` and `shutil` modules to interact with the file system and move files around.
“`

import os
import shutil

# Set the directory path and the destination directory
input_dir = '"/path/to/your/files"'
output_dir = '"/path/to/your/archived/files"'

# Iterate through the files in the input directory
for filename in os.listdir(input_dir):
    # Get the file path and last modified date
    file_path = os.path.join(input_dir, filename)
    last_modified = os.path.getmtime(file_path)

    # Determine the archive directory based on the last modified date
    if last_modified < 1577836800:  # January 1, 2020
        archive_dir = '2020_archives'
    elif last_modified < 1609459200:  # January 1, 2021
        archive_dir = '2021_archives'
    else:
        archive_dir = '2022_archives'

    # Move the file to the corresponding archive directory
    dest_path = os.path.join(output_dir, archive_dir, filename)
    shutil.move(file_path, dest_path)

```
In this script, we:

1. Define the input directory and the destination directory.
2. Iterate through the files in the input directory using `os.listdir()`.
3. For each file, we retrieve its path and last modified date using `os.path.join()` and `os.path.getmtime()`.
4. Based on the last modified date, we determine the corresponding archive directory.
5. Move the file to the designated archive directory using `shutil.move()`.

**Step 3: Running the Script**

To run the script, save it to a file (e.g., `file_sorter.py`) and execute it using Python:
```bash
python file_sorter.py
```
This will automate the process of moving your files to their corresponding archive directories.

**Conclusion**

By automating the process of sorting and archiving your files based on their last modified date, you'll be able to:

* Declutter your digital space
* Improve organization and accessibility
* Reduce digital noise

Using Python's built-in modules, we've created a script that efficiently sorts and archives your files. With this automation script, you'll be able to streamline your file management process and focus on more important tasks. 💪

Feel free to customize and adapt this script to suit your specific needs. Happy organizing! 🎉