Sweepwell™ Empty Folder Cleaner
Change Log

(Called Picture Org Empty Folder Cleaner up to 1.0.0. Sweepwell is a trademark of The Picture Org LLC.)

Newest first.


1.1.4  (23 October 2026)

  - Faster on a Mac: looking for empty folders checks each file once instead of twice, which helps most on network
    drives. The same folders are found as before.
  - Windows: a little less work per folder while looking. The same folders are found as before.

1.1.3  (23 October 2026)

  - Updates: Sweepwell now checks for a newer version once a day (only the version list is fetched). Install
    downloads the installer, checks that it is signed by The Picture Org, and opens it. In Lightroom, the Plug-in
    Manager has an Updates section with Check now; you can turn the daily check off.
  - New "Create an error log": saves a text file on your Desktop to email to The Picture Org if something goes wrong
    (Lightroom: Library > Plug-in Extras; Windows: Start menu; Mac: when it asks "Clean another folder?").
  - Windows: the folder window has an address bar, so you can type or paste a folder's path instead of clicking
    through the tree. Mac: press Cmd-Shift-G in the folder window to type a path.
  - Sweepwell now installs in a ThePictureOrg folder (Windows: AppData\Local\Programs\ThePictureOrg\Sweepwell;
    Mac: Applications > ThePictureOrg). The earlier copy is replaced. If you kept the app in the Dock, drag it in
    again from Applications > ThePictureOrg.
  - Download files are now named ThePictureOrg-Sweepwell-...
  - The Plug-in Manager shows the Sweepwell icon beside its description, and Setup shows the Sweepwell pictures.

1.1.2  (22 October 2026)

  - Lightroom plug-in: fixed "An internal error has occurred. We can only wait from within a task" when finding
    empty folders in a catalog with more than a few dozen folders. Nothing was removed when it happened.
  - Mac app: a progress window while it looks for empty folders and while it removes them, with a Stop button.
    Stopping keeps every folder not yet removed.
  - Windows: Setup, the uninstaller and the cleaner script are now signed by The Picture Org LLC, so Windows shows
    our name as the publisher.

1.1.1  (18 October 2026)

  - Name update: Setup and the Mac installer replace the earlier Start menu folder, desktop icon and app with
    Sweepwell ones; your logs and settings stay where they are.
    In Lightroom the commands now sit under a Sweepwell™ heading in Library > Plug-in Extras.

1.1.0  (18 October 2026)

New
  - New name: Sweepwell™ Empty Folder Cleaner (was Picture Org Empty Folder Cleaner).
  - Windows Setup: installs for your account without administrator permission, with
    Start menu and desktop shortcuts, an optional File Explorer right-click entry ("Remove empty folders
    (Sweepwell)"), the optional Lightroom Classic plug-in, and an uninstaller in Settings > Apps. The zip is still
    there for anyone who'd rather not install anything.
  - Mac version: "Install Sweepwell" adds the Sweepwell app and/or the Lightroom plug-in; choose a folder, see
    the list, click Remove. Signed and notarized by The Picture Org LLC. "Uninstall Sweepwell" removes it.
  - Lightroom Classic plug-in (Windows and Mac): Library > Plug-in Extras > Find empty folders finds folders with no
    photos in the catalog, removes the ones that are empty on disk too, and selects each one in the Folders panel so
    you can remove it from the catalog (Lightroom's plug-in kit can't do that part itself).
  - New app icon: a folder and a broom.
Changed
  - When installed with Setup, logs go to %LOCALAPPDATA%\PictureOrg\EmptyFolderCleaner\Logs instead of the program
    folder. (The zip still keeps them next to the script.)
  - Dragging a folder onto Launch.bat now asks the junk-file question and offers to clean another folder, like
    double-clicking it.
  - The hidden Mac "Icon" file counts as a junk file.
Safety (all three versions)
  - Mac packages (Photos, Final Cut and iMovie libraries, .sparsebundle disk images, .app and similar) and folders
    that are meant to be empty (.stfolder and .stversions from Syncthing, .git, lost+found, found.000) are left
    alone, and refused as the folder to clean.
  - Recycle and snapshot folders are recognised whatever the capitals ($Recycle.Bin, @Recycle).
  - Each folder is looked at once more right before it is removed: if something new is in it, it is kept with its
    junk files. Its parent folders are then kept without being tried.
  - Windows: a desktop.ini that gives its folder a custom icon or name is not treated as junk.
  - Lightroom plug-in: a folder holding a link to another folder is kept (links are never followed or removed).
    On Windows the plug-in now removes folders with a PowerShell script, like the Windows app.
  - The Windows log is written as each folder is removed, so a closed window still leaves a record.
Fixed
  - The File Explorer right-click entry on a drive (D:\) now cleans that drive's top folder.
  - Lightroom: folders selected inside other selected folders are listed once; Cancel works while the catalog is
    searched.
  - Setup asks you to close Lightroom Classic before adding the plug-in, and says so if the plug-in couldn't be
    replaced.

1.0.0  (8 October 2026)

First release, built from our earlier RemoveDirs.ps1 script.
  - Previews the full list of empty folders and asks before removing. The old script's -WhatIf missed folders
    that only become empty once their empty sub-folders are gone; the preview now includes them.
  - Folder names with square brackets, such as "Smith [1998]", are handled (the old script's wildcard paths
    skipped or errored on them).
  - Lists each folder once, which keeps scans quick on network shares.
  - Optional junk-file handling (Thumbs.db, desktop.ini, .DS_Store, ._ files).
  - Leaves links, junctions, recycle bins and snapshot folders alone; refuses Windows system folders.
  - Never removes a folder that gained a file after the scan.
  - CSV log of every run; Launch.bat with drag-and-drop or folder browser; Preview-Only.bat.
  - Runs on PowerShell 7 or Windows PowerShell 5.1.
