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Hazel 5.0

Noodlesoft has released Hazel 5, a major update for the file automation and cleanup utility. The biggest change is its move from being a preference pane to a standalone app. Hazel now combines the folder list, rule list, and rule editor into the app’s main window, and you can now organize folders into groups.

Adding support for macOS 11 Big Sur and M1-based Macs, Hazel 5 also adds custom list item and table attributes that enable you to match against an item in a list (created in Hazel or loaded in from an external file) or table, respectively. With the table-matching capabilities, you can match against one column in a table and rename with the values from another. The update also enables you to detach Rule editors so you can view multiple rules simultaneously, ensures that Preview mode sticks while navigating between different rules in the same ruleset, and now requires 10.13 High Sierra.

Hazel 5 costs $42 for a new license or $20 for an upgrade from a previous version. If you purchased Hazel 4 on or after 1 January 2020, you’re eligible for a free upgrade. You can also purchase a Hazel 5 family pack for up to five members of a household for $65. ($42 new or $65 for a five-member family pack, $20 upgrade, 20.4 MB, release notes, macOS 10.13+)

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Comments About Hazel 5.0

Notable Replies

  1. It’s moved to an app rather than a System Preferences pane, which is welcome. Removes the Hazel 4 pref pane during install but I had to reboot to get the icon to disappear.

    Always been a terrific app.

  2. Already upgraded, Hazel is probably the most-used app on my Mac alongside Keyboard Maestro and Typinator. The move to a standalone app wasn’t unexpected, as I recall reading that Apple are leaning on developers to switch away from using custom Preference panes for their apps. Looking at my Preferences panel now, the only 3rd-party one left is Backblaze.

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