
You can now set the other items to is greater than and enter a size. In the first menu, select other.Ī window appears that contains a long list of items you can search for.

#HOW TO SEARCH USING FINDER ON MAC PLUS#
Ignore the search box and click the plus at the right side of the window. Go to the Finder menu and select New Smart Folder. A smart folder lists them all and makes it easy to delete them.Īt first sight, it does not seem possible to create a smart folder that shows files of a certain size. These are often large and you have probably forgotten where they are. For example, like the example above, you can search for any type of file. There are lots of uses for smart folders. When it has finished you can create smart folders. It is fairly quick on Mac’s with SSDs, but very slow with mechanical disk drives. Restart the Mac, return to System Preferences and delete the Mac’s disk in Spotlight, Privacy. Select the Privacy tab and add the Mac’s drive using the plus button at the bottom. To fix the fault, open System Preferences and click Spotlight. Spotlight provides the filenames for smart folders. If smart folders are not working, it is probably because of a Spotlight fault. A saved search and a smart folder are the same thing. You get the same window as when creating a smart folder. Try opening a regular Finder window and searching for anything. Open the top hit - the Library.Īll the smart folders are stored in this Saved Searches folder and they can be deleted by Ctrl+clicking and selecting Move to Trash in the usual way. Press Command+spacebar to open Spotlight and enter saved searches. Remember that the smart folder was saved to the Saved Searches folder? Ctrl+click it and select Remove from Sidebar. Suppose you no longer want the smart folder in the Finder sidebar. Click the Save button to save this updated search. Select Created Date in the first menu, within the last in the second menu and months in the third menu.Īfter selecting these, the list of files shows only those created in the last month. For example, let’s find files created in the last month.Ĭlick the plus at the right side of the search criteria to add another item. The original search criteria is displayed and it can be changed. It looks like a folder, but is really a saved search.Ĭtrl+click the sidebar item and a menu is displayed. One click shows all the files and it is a quick way to find the files you need, which may be actually located anywhere on the disk. The smart folder (the saved search), appears in the sidebar in Finder. You could save it elsewhere, but this is the most convenient place for it. The save location is a folder called Saved Searches. This makes it appear in all Finder windows. The results of the search are displayed in the Finder window.Ĭlick the Save button in the top right corner and name the search (just the first part, not the. After typing xcf into the search box a suggestion below is exactly what I want - Gimp Image.

I am going to search for GIMP images, which have a. Type something into the search box in the top right corner.

Go to the File menu and select New Smart Folder. This saves the search so that you can use it again.Ī smart folder is exactly the same. If you search the Mac’s disk using the search box in the top right corner of a Finder window, there is a Save button. It is actually a saved search using Finder. Here’s how they work.Ī smart folder is not a real folder on the disk drive and it does not contain any files. Smart folders is a feature of Finder on the Apple Mac, but what exactly are they and how do you use them? They are easier to use than you might think and they can be very useful.
