Before you let an app move your files, ask this
Last reviewed: September 19, 2026 · Markdown version
Four questions, and they are answerable from an app's own documentation before you install it. Does it copy first and delete only after the copy is confirmed? Can you undo what it did? Is what it does a permitted use of the permission it is asking for? And will it tell you when Android has put it to sleep, or quietly do nothing?
1. Does it copy first, and delete only after the copy is confirmed?
Across two filesystems a move cannot be atomic. Even mv(1) is explicit that "as the rename(2) call does not work across file systems, mv uses cp(1) and rm(1) to accomplish the move". So there is always an order, and only one of the two possible orders is safe: copy, confirm, then delete. Delete first and an interruption leaves you with nothing. The mechanics in full.
2. Can you undo it?
Two different mechanisms count here — a trash you can restore from, and a history you can reverse. Files by Google documents a trash: files remain in it for 30 days and are then automatically deleted. Whatever the app offers, the number should be written down somewhere by the app itself; an undo nobody has documented is an undo nobody has tested.
3. Is its use of the permission permitted?
For anything asking for All files access, Google Play's policy already names the categories: "intended and permitted use includes file managers, backup and restore apps, anti-virus apps, and document management apps". It also sets the bar — the permission has to be core functionality, "the main purpose of the app", without which "the app is 'broken' or rendered unusable". If moving files is a side feature of something else, that is a reason to look harder.
4. Will it admit when Android has stopped it?
Anything that promises to work in the background is subject to Doze, which defers background CPU and network activity when the device is unused, and to App Standby, which defers it for apps with no recent user activity. An app that promises a schedule without ever mentioning either is promising something it does not control. Why background work stops.
Where Adinand Auto File Sorter fits
The same four answers, for this app. It copies, verifies the copy and only then removes the original, and a failure at any step leaves the original untouched. Every sort is recorded and undoable, with no time limit, putting files back at the exact path they came from — free undoes the most recent sort, Pro any past one. It is a file manager holding All files access as its core function, and it reads only the folders you chose. And when Android has not let a background run happen, a health indicator on the home screen says so rather than letting you assume it did.
Sources: the mv(1) manual page, Google Play's Use of All files access permission policy and Optimize for Doze and App Standby, all read on 16 September 2026. What the app does comes from its own code audit.