Finding specific things

Getting more out of Finder search

Updated 2026-07-31 · 5 min read

Finder's search is more capable than it looks. Almost all of it is behind one small plus button.

Scope first

After ⌘F, a bar appears offering This Mac or the current folder. It remembers your last choice, which is why searches sometimes return nothing for no apparent reason — you are searching a folder you have forgotten you were in.

The plus button

Click + to add a criterion row. The default list is short; choose Other… from the attribute menu and a long list appears, including:

• Name with matches / begins with / ends with — filename-only searching
• File size, Kind, Last opened, Created
• File extension as distinct from Kind
• File visibility, to include hidden files
• System files, which are excluded by default

Tick In Menu next to attributes you use often and they join the short list permanently.

Name only, which is what most people want

Add a row, set it to Name → matches. That alone removes the content matches that make Spotlight results feel random.

Boolean logic

Hold Option and the + becomes …, which adds a nested group with Any/All/None. This gives real boolean queries — (A or B) and not C — through the interface.

Smart Folders

Save any search: File → Save Search, or the Save button in the search bar. It becomes a folder in the sidebar that re-evaluates each time you open it.

Good candidates: everything over 1 GB, everything modified today, all screenshots.

Raw query syntax

Finder searches accept Spotlight query syntax directly if you type it:

kMDItemFSSize > 100000000

Rarely worth it interactively, but it is the same language mdfind speaks, so anything you work out on the command line can be pasted in.

What it still cannot do

Finder search inherits Spotlight's index and therefore its exclusions — ~/Library, package contents, unmounted volumes. No amount of criteria will reach them.

Common questions

Why does Finder search return nothing in a folder I know has matches?

The scope bar is probably set to the folder rather than This Mac, or the folder is excluded from indexing.

How do I make Finder search filenames only?

Add a criterion row and set it to Name → matches. Finder otherwise blends name and content matches.