GJ FILE MANAGER · FIELD NOTES
Mac Filename Collision Triage: Hover, Separate, Then File
When a second contributor's shoot-day folder arrives and its files collide with names already in your project, triage each conflict deliberately: read the paths, preview in place, and keep originals distinct from exports before replacing or keeping both. The goal is to file the right work without destroying a revision you still need.
Why the collision happens and why it matters
A second contributor's shoot-day folder can contain files with exactly the same names as files already filed in the project. Same-name files on Mac are not necessarily the same work: a new client draft can share a name with yesterday's file without containing the same content. Replacing immediately may discard a revision you still need, while repeatedly pasting duplicates makes the destination harder to understand. The collision is a triage moment, not a routine click.
First, read the conflict prompt
When you copy the contributor's folder into the project, GJ File Manager offers Replace, Keep Both or Stop on a conflicting copy. Before choosing, read the source and destination paths shown in the prompt. The source path tells you where the incoming file came from; the destination path tells you what it would overwrite. This is also the moment to distinguish Finder from GJ File Manager: a Finder copy behaves according to Finder, while GJ File Manager gives you the explicit Replace, Keep Both and Stop choices in its own conflict prompt. Do not assume one tool's dialog matches the other's.
Triage with hover preview before deciding
If the correct version is uncertain, choose Stop to inspect rather than replacing on a guess. In GJ File Manager, enable hover preview and pause the pointer over the conflicting file until the preview appears. You can open the folder and use the hover-preview control, review per-type switches and size limits in preview settings, and adjust the delay if previews appear too often or disable them for the session. Preview checks content in place; it is not the same as double-clicking, which opens the file in its associated application. Preview support varies by format, and large or protected files may be restricted. Quick Look remains available when needed.
Keep Both, then compare the files
When you need both versions, choose Keep Both. Keep Both does not merge the documents: it preserves separate files with distinct names and does not interpret or merge edits inside them. After the copy completes, locate the original and the newly named copy and preview each one. Then decide which file belongs in the delivery. Apply a choice to all conflicts only when the same rule genuinely fits every one of them; otherwise handle them individually.
Separate originals from exports before filing
As you triage, keep original assets separate from exported files. Use distinct Originals and Exports folders, with purpose-specific subfolders under Exports when useful, and explicitly choose the output location in GJ File Manager. Retaining a reliable source makes another export possible. Check the conversion queue's input paths so you are not feeding an earlier export back into the next task. Open completed outputs to inspect them, and return to the original input when making another version. Remember that separate folders are not a backup, repeated lossy encoding can lose more detail, and renaming an output Original does not restore its quality. You do not have to duplicate the original for every export, but retain a reliable original and arrange an independent backup rather than relying solely on folder separation. Keep the contributor's originals safe under Originals and do not let them be overwritten by an export or a same-name draft.
After filing: verify, don't assume
Once the batch is complete, locate the original and the newly named copy and preview each one again in place. A newer modification date does not prove correctness, and replacement is not an unconditional backup. Keeping both needs extra space and later organization, so plan to resolve the duplicates deliberately rather than leaving the destination cluttered. If you cannot assess the whole batch, Stop rather than applying a blanket rule you may regret.
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Written by the GJ File Manager team. Mac workflows; controls may differ on iPad.
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