Watched folder and file renaming

Rectoly notices the PDFs you save into a folder, such as Downloads, and adds them to your library, gives them a tidy name like "Devlin (2019) BERT", or both.

Applies to Mendeley and Zotero editions Windows · Mac · iPad Partly included in the purchase

Set up a watched folder

  1. Open the setting:
    • Mac · iPadSettings › Sync & Backup › Watched folder.
    • WindowsSettings › Sync › Watched folder.
  2. Press Choose folder… and pick the folder, for example your Downloads folder.
  3. Under What to do with new PDFs, choose one:
    • Add to the library — add each new PDF to Mendeley or Zotero.
    • Fix the name, then add — rename the file, then add it.
    • Only fix the name — rename the file where it is and do nothing else. This needs no Mendeley or Zotero account.
  4. WindowsIf the folder already holds PDFs, Rectoly asks whether to handle them too (These too) or only PDFs that arrive from now on (Only new PDFs).

Mac · iPadWhen a PDF is added to the library, Confirm metadata appears so you can check its title, authors and year, as with Adding a PDF.

WindowsPDFs from the watched folder are added without asking. Their title, authors and year are read from the PDF.

The watched folder is included in the purchase. It is free during the 14-day trial. Until then Rectoly does not read the folder or change anything in it. See Trial and purchase.

When new PDFs are noticed

  • Mac · iPadWhen you open Rectoly or come back to it. Apps on these systems cannot watch a folder in the background.
  • WindowsAs soon as they arrive while Rectoly is open, and at launch for anything that came in meanwhile. A download is left alone until it has finished. A folder on a network or cloud drive is checked every 30 seconds.

Only the top level of the folder is watched, not its subfolders.

Zotero editionIn the Zotero edition, where PDFs from the watched folder go depends on the system:

  • Mac · iPadZotero editionThey go into the library on screen: Personal Library or a group.
  • WindowsZotero editionThey always go into My Library, even while a group is on screen.

File name format

Under Filename formatting, set how renamed files are named.

  1. Edit the Format. It is built from these tokens:
    • author — the lead author's family name
    • authors — the authors (three or more become "et al.")
    • year — the year of publication
    • title — the title
    • journal — the short journal name
    • DOI — the DOI
  2. Check the Preview. The default gives names like Devlin (2019) BERT.pdf. Reset to default brings it back.
  3. Optional:
    • Look up online asks Crossref and arXiv when the PDF itself does not say. Turn it off to use only the PDF and your own library.
    • ASCII only leaves out letters outside plain ASCII, for folders shared with programs that mangle such file names. Japanese is left out, not romanized.

Rename a single PDF

You can rename a PDF without a watched folder, account or purchase. The original file is left alone and you save a renamed copy.

  • Mac · iPadIn the Shortcuts app, use the Rectoly action Rename Paper PDF, and pass its result to Save File. It uses the same name format.
  • WindowsOn Windows, renaming works through the watched folder with Only fix the name.

Stop watching

Press Stop watching in the same setting. The files in the folder stay as they are.

  • Mac · iPadWhen the trial ends without a purchase, the watched folder is unset.
  • WindowsWhen the trial ends without a purchase, the folder is no longer read, but your choice is kept.

Updated September 20, 2026