If you haven’t yet used Smart Folders in OS X, then you may be missing out on a critical time-saving feature of the OS X Finder. Smart Folders are essentially canned searches, where you can save custom search queries and quickly restore them. They are relatively simple concept, so the real question of how to use smart folders really boils down to: How do you search your Mac? Continue reading
Tag Archives: search
Faulty Spotlight plugins may cause incomplete searches
The Spotlight search in your Mac offers a quick way to find files; however, there may be times when even though Spotlight shows search results, it does not update so new files you add to your system are not included. There are several reasons why this may happen, including a damaged Spotlight index, in which case forcing OS X to rebuild your index is the easiest solution; however, there may be instances where even upon rebuilding, you only get a small subset of expected files in a search result. Continue reading
How to determine when your Spotlight index needs to be rebuilt
The Spotlight index in OS X is the database used for quickly accessing file information on your Mac. While this is primarily used for finding files on your system, there are several other services that use Spotlight’s information, and if there is any damage to Spotlight then you might see odd problems and behaviors dotted throughout your system. Continue reading
How to include system files in OS X searches
Searches in OS X will by default only include files you have access to, such as documents you have saved, and applications that you use; however, there may be times when you might want to search for system files as well, either by name or by content. These can include fonts, preference files, cache files, and other files you might not usually access directly in the Finder. Continue reading
Organize Spotlight searches for better results
The Spotlight searching system in OS X is not only good for finding files, but because it includes applications and access to services like the dictionary on the system it can be useful as an application launcher, and a quick dictionary reference, among other uses. All of these can be accessed from any application by pressing Command-Space or selecting the Spotlight menu in the menu bar, and then entering a search query. Continue reading
Tips for opening links and searches in Safari
The default behavior in Safari for opening links, bookmarks, and Web searches is to display the results in the current browser window; however, if needed then there are options for opening these in other windows, tabs, and otherwise augmenting your browsing experience.
As with many programs in OS X, Safari supports a number of hidden alternative behaviors to standard commands for opening Continue reading
How to increase the efficiency of the Spotlight menu in OS X
Even though Apple’s Spotlight indexing routine is a quick and convenient way to find files and folders on your system, for any given search it may give you a rather large set of results, especially if you only use a short or common search term. If you find yourself burdened by how Spotlight presents its search results to you, there are several ways you can go about making them more convenient. Continue reading