Setup OS X Folder Actions to Know When a File Is Added

Folder Actions direct your computer to perform a task whenever a monitored folder undergoes one of the following changes: the folder is opened, closed, moved, or resized, or has an item added to or removed from it. Here's how to set it up to let you know an item has been added to a folder on any Mac with OS X Mavericks (10.9) through macOS Catalina (10.15).

How to Create the New Item Alert Folder Action

Choose a folder that you want to monitor for additions. You can select any folder, including one that's shared on the local network or one you use for syncing information via the cloud, such as Dropbox, iCloud, Google Drive, or Microsoft OneDrive. Then, perform the following steps:

1. Right-click the folder you want to monitor, and select Folder Actions Setup in the pop-up menu.

2. Click Run Service.

3. In the list of available folder action scripts, highlight add - new item alert.scpt and click Attach.

4. Check the boxes next to Enable Folder Actions and the folder you want to monitor. Confirm that add - new item alert.scpt is checked as well.

5. Close the Folder Actions Setup window.

Now, when an item is added to the specified folder, a dialog box pops up to notify you and gives you the option to view the new items immediately. The dialog box eventually dismisses itself. So, if you're away from your computer, you could miss a notification.