Finding files on your Mac drive can be tricky, especially when you don’t know exactly what you’re looking for. Apple being Apple, file management “works” most of the time, but that’s not always the case if you need to track down something that’s buried deep.
There are several ways to search for files on macOS: a quick and easy way and a more complete and advanced way. If none of these work, you also have third-party tools you can turn to. (If you can’t find what you’re looking for after exhausting all these options, maybe it’s time to admit that the file isn’t actually there.)
The quick and easy method: Spotlight
You can use Spotlight to search for files as well as apps, websites, news, word definitions, and more. Simply load it on screen via Cmd + Space or click the magnifying glass icon on the right side of your menu bar. Next, type the file name (or as many as you remember) in the main box. Spotlight searches key user account folders by default and you can check where it is indexed via the Apple Menu > System settings > Siri and Spotlight.
Spotlight is smart about searching and includes file names with your keywords somewhere along with exact matches. It can also search for plain text in files like PDFs, Word documents, and Excel spreadsheets. Scroll down to see results from different categories, including documents and photos, then click one of the buttons Show more links to expand results for a particular category. (By the way, this is also a great way to access folders.)
That’s all we can say about it. If you can’t find what you’re looking for, select Search in Finder option at the end of the results list – which brings us to our next option.
The advanced method: Finder
If you really need to dig deeper into your system, Finder is the way to go. Open Finder on macOS and you’ll see a magnifying glass icon – the search option – in the upper right corner. Click on it, then start typing the name of the file you’re looking for, part of the name, something inside the file, or the file type.
As you type, you can toggle between search results matching file names and search results matching file contents below the search box. If you entered a recognized file type, such as JPEG or DOCX, you will also have the option to search by file type.
Meanwhile, on the left, you’ll have the option to run the search on your entire Mac or limit it to the current folder in Finder (and all its subfolders).
If you need to refine the search even further, you can use filters.
- Click on the small + (more) just below the search box on the right.
- Choose your filter: Kind, Last opening date, Last modification date, Creation date, NameOr Content. Next, define the criteria – so Picture Or PDF Or KindFor example.
- You can also choose Other as a filter. This gives you access to a long list of additional filters, from bit rate (for audio files) to resolution width (for images).
- To add additional filters, click + (more) again to the right. To remove a filter you added, click – (less).
As you add and remove filters, the search results in the main window will change to meet the new requirements. There is also a To safeguard option, allowing you to save the search for reuse later (handy if you have configured several specific filters to work together).
Third-party tools available for macOS
Between Spotlight and Finder, macOS has fairly well-covered file searching, but there are a few interesting third-party tools worth mentioning.
Of those I tested, I can recommend Find Any File: it is useful in terms of the precision it offers regarding file location and criteria (finding a file on a NAS that has been modified between two specific dates, for example). example). It’s $6, but you can try it for free first (with on-screen reminders to buy it).
With HoudahSpot, as with Find Any File, the advantage lies in the detail that you can dig into in your research. You can search multiple folders together at once, combine search terms with Boolean operators (AND, OR, NOT), and impose useful limits on your results (so the last 100 open files matching the criteria, for example). You can try it for free and purchase it costs $34 after the 15-day trial ends.
