library organizer tool

Can’t seem to find a library organizer that fits my needs.

I’ve found a few that allow me to add categories or tags to my media images, and a few that organize by creating sub-folders in the uploads folder. But so far, every plug-in I’ve tried fails my main requirement: the ability to make use of the “organized” file system when I click “Set Featured Image” on a post (custom post, in this case). When I click Set Featured Image, I still get the default Media Library selection page. Every image is still displayed in “the giant pile.”

One solution is to add searchable info to the file names but I don’t have control of the uploaded files.

Could be I’m missing some obvious step but I haven’t been able to figure it out on my own. Didn’t see this question asked yet in forums.

Anyone know if there’s a plugin that does this? Free or paid. Or how to add category search to the Set Featured Image form?

Thanks.