How to find files on Mac? Finder provides a formidable search feature, letting users run specific searches based on file types and metadata. Third-party apps offer alternative searching tools, some are better, some are worse. This guide will help you choose the best app for your particular situation.
By default, macOS includes search utilities. But you can also substitute Finder with many different apps. Most of the time, it’s a file manager Mac users can utilize to search for folders and files. RAR functionality is also useful, since some file browsers can look inside archives in their searches.
Finder search is easily accessible and quick, and it has some depth. This is basically how you find file on Mac:
Type in a keyword or a part of a keyword to search for.
The limited selection of parameters can be expanded. By default, you can search for files based on their extension, dates of opening, modification, creation, name, and content. Choose "Other", and you can browse several hundred additional values, which can be added to the drop-down menu as well. Finder is the way most users on macOS find files.
If you want to search on external devices, such as extended hard drives, you might need to rebuild the Spotlight index. Outside of these rare cases, Finder is perfectly adequate for most search-related tasks. Also, note that the "Name" criterion should be used when you want to search file names specifically, and not their contents or metadata.
What can beat Finder’s convenient, detailed and specific search feature? Commander One answers that question by letting you search with Regular Expressions and index your cloud drives as well. You can even specify the way that it should treat subdirectories. It will look for keywords in names or text contents, even if the target file is inside an archive.
Input the word you’re looking for.
Commander One is even more helpful when trying to find files on Mac if you learn RegEx. This regular language can be used to locate very specific strings of text. It includes wildcards, repeat characters, and conditional operators. With all this combined, RegEx patterns can find almost anything. That being said, it’s a difficult, confusing language that is only useful for power users.
Here’s a RegEx example. Let’s say that you don’t remember much about the file, except that the file name ends in "sa" and a three-digit number.
The file name string can start with any amount of random characters: .{0,}
Which continues with "sa": .{0,}sa
And culminates in a 3-digit number: .{0,}sa\d{3}
It takes practice, but once you get the hang of it, it’s a pretty powerful tool, useful not just for file searches, but also for batch text editing and substitution.
But searching isn’t the only thing Commander One is capable of. Its usefulness as a file manager can’t be overstated. With two panes, unlimited tabs, cloud disk mounting, task management, and even Terminal emulation, Commander One is a viable alternative to Finder. View hidden files, get more info about your processes, and adjust compression levels when zipping. And you can even queue up multiple operations. This app is useful for any system task imaginable.
Spotlight is the quickest method to find file Mac, since it can be accessed from the Menu Bar by clicking the magnifying glass. Unlike Finder search, it’s less detailed, not as focused on files, and leans more towards apps and integrated web searches.
The main advantage of this method is the quickness with which it can be accessed. It comes with a cost. With Spotlight, you can’t add more criteria to your search, but it lets you switch to Finder quickly with the "Search in Finder" button, where you can scan for any detail that you need. You can also utilize Spotlight in Commander One.
How to find files on Mac in this fashion? If Commander One is your file navigator of choice, you can access Spotlight with a hotkey (⌃+⌥+F7). It works as per usual, but with the added possibility to add the search results to one of your tabs (Feed to Active Panel).
Terminal search on macOS can be summed up in 3 commands - find, mdfind, locate. They’ll be explained and reviewed separately, since they work in different ways. You can find manual pages for all three on the internet (they are the same as Linux commands), but we’ll also provide a tutorial here. Let’s start with find.
Find is a command that finds and lists every file that contains a given word. It can also match expressions, if you’re savvy, but it’s easier to start with simple queries. Here’s an example: find ~/Desktop - name video
Locate is the same, but with less options, and it’s quicker. As a downside, you need to prepare your system for locate by building an index: sudo launchctl load -w /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.locate.plist
locate your file
Finally, there’s mdfind, which is the text-based version of Spotlight search: mdfind -only in ~/Documents test file
How to find files on Mac faster? You need to have instant access to the Terminal at any time. Launching it from Apps or Launchpad is pretty slow. Commander One will help you by providing a quick shortcut to open a Terminal window. It even starts in your current directory!
When you can’t find file on Mac, or it would take too long to run a system-wide search, you should try looking in several locations where files get lost often:
While it may seem that Finder is enough to find anything, you can get a lot out of other system apps and third-party utilities like Commander One:
Get a high-quality application, and you’ll never lose any files.
You can try finding files on Mac by using the following tips and tricks:
All in all, there is a plentiful selection of search solutions on macOS, including both system tools and third-party apps. Some stand out, like Commander One, which provides a whole toolkit to find files on Mac. We suggest trying out as many methods as possible, and don’t be afraid to experiment with the complex stuff, like Terminal commands.
Make the best out of any situation, and don’t despair if you can’t find the file you need. And one final thing - you should always make regular backups.
