Kempt
In short
Turn on Stacks (View › Use Stacks) to group everything in one click, send screenshots to their own folder (Shift-Command-5 › Options › Save to), then file or delete what’s left.Most Desktop clutter is screenshots with names like “Screenshot 2026-10-21 at 09.14.02”. Kempt names each new screenshot from what it shows and files it in Pictures › Screenshots.
Without any app
Stack everything
Control-click the desktop › Use Stacks, or View › Use Stacks (Control-Command-0). Files collapse into piles by kind; View › Group Stacks By groups them by date or tag. Click a stack to open it.
Give screenshots their own folder
Press Shift-Command-5, click Options and choose a folder under Save to (Other Location for any folder). Screenshots taken with the keyboard shortcuts go to the Desktop until you change this.
File, then delete
Open each stack: drag what you need into Documents folders, and move the rest to the Trash. Rename keepers first (select, press Return, type) so you can find them later.
Hide icons for a clean screen
System Settings › Desktop & Dock › Show Items: untick On Desktop. Files stay in the Desktop folder in Finder; they just aren’t drawn on the wallpaper.
Know where the Desktop lives
If Desktop & Documents Folders is on in iCloud Drive, your Desktop syncs to your other Macs; on Tahoe it appears under Favorites in the Finder sidebar with a cloud icon.
With Kempt
- 1
Screenshots, named for what they show
With “Also name new screenshots on the Desktop” on (it is by default), Kempt reads each new screenshot, names it from what it shows with its capture time, and files it in Pictures › Screenshots.
- 2
The Desktop, tidied on your click
The Desktop appears in Kempt’s sidebar. Other Desktop files are never moved automatically: you review the proposed names and homes and tidy when you’re ready, with Undo.
- 3
Old screenshots go
Clean Up lists screenshots older than a month. Or write a rule in a sentence, as in the app’s own example: “Screenshots older than 30 days go to the trash”.
$27 once, 14 days freeRuns on every Apple silicon MacA question? Ask a person
Questions people ask
Why does my Mac save screenshots to the Desktop?
It’s the default for the keyboard shortcuts. Change it in Shift-Command-5 › Options › Save to.
How do I hide all icons on my Mac Desktop?
System Settings › Desktop & Dock › Show Items: untick On Desktop. Your files stay in the Desktop folder.
Does Use Stacks delete or move files?
No. Stacks only change how the Desktop is drawn; turn them off and everything is back where it was.
Can screenshots be renamed automatically on a Mac?
macOS names them by date and time only. Kempt renames new screenshots from what they show, on your Mac.
How do I organize my Mac Desktop with Stage Manager?
Turn on Stage Manager in Control Center, and in System Settings › Desktop & Dock set Show Items to In Stage Manager: desktop files appear only when you click the wallpaper.
How do I organize Desktop folders on a Mac?
Keep two or three folders at most on the Desktop for work in progress, and file everything else in Documents. Stacks group loose files by kind or date.
Is there a keyboard shortcut to clean up the Mac Desktop?
Control-Command-0 turns Stacks on and off on the Desktop.