Finding specific things

Finding a folder, not the files inside it

Updated 2026-10-30 · 4 min read

A normal search returns files and folders mixed together. To see only folders, add a kind filter in Finder or Spotlight, or use a Terminal query that asks for directories.

Four ways to list folders only

Where	What to do
Finder	Search, click + below the search field, set Kind to Folder
Spotlight menu	Type kind:folder and part of the name
Terminal, with the index	mdfind with a folder content-type test
Terminal, no index	find with -type d

Finder is the most visual, and Spotlight is the quickest. Terminal is for when you want a plain list you can copy from. All of them but find use Spotlight's index, so they share its blind spots, covered near the end.

In a Finder window

1. Open a Finder window and click the search field in the toolbar.
2. Type part of the folder's name and press Return.
3. Click the + button on the right, below the search field. A row of criteria appears.
4. Set the first menu to Kind and the second to Folder.

The result list now holds folders only. Folder sits in the same menu as Application, Document, Image and the other kinds.

To reuse the search, click Save below the search field. It becomes a Smart Folder, which Apple's guide says you can add to the sidebar, and which updates itself as folders come and go. If you want the search limited to one place, click that folder's name in the bar under the toolbar before saving. The post on Finder search tips lists more criteria you can combine.

In the Spotlight menu

Open Spotlight with ⌘Space and type:

kind:folder invoices

Apple's guide lists kind:folder (or kind:folders) among the Spotlight keywords for macOS Sequoia and later, and you can put it before or after the name. One detail to expect: applications are not counted as folders, even though they are folders on disk. Run through mdfind -interpret, which reads text the way the Spotlight menu does, kind:folder utilities found /Applications/Utilities and kind:folder xcode found nothing, because Xcode is an app. In macOS Tahoe 26 and later, Spotlight can also offer a Folders category under the search field as you type.

In Terminal with mdfind

mdfind asks the Spotlight index directly. A folder has the content type public.folder, so this lists folders whose name contains "invoices", ignoring case:

mdfind 'kMDItemContentType == "public.folder" && kMDItemFSName == "*invoices*"c'

Add -onlyin to limit it to one place:

mdfind -onlyin ~/Documents 'kMDItemContentType == "public.folder" && kMDItemFSName == "*invoices*"c'

It returns folders only, no files. The trailing c after the pattern means "case-insensitive", and * is a wildcard on either side. Our mdfind guide explains the query language.

In Terminal with find

find doesn't use the index. It walks the folders and checks each name as it goes:

find ~ -type d -iname '*invoices*' 2>/dev/null

-type d means directories only, -iname ignores case, and 2>/dev/null hides the "Permission denied" messages. It is slower than mdfind but reaches places the index doesn't, including ~/Library. Unlike the other methods, find also lists application bundles, because to it they are directories. And if macOS asks whether Terminal may access Documents, Desktop or Downloads, allow it, or find will skip those folders.

For a name search that isn't limited to folders, see searching by filename.

When you only remember part of the path

If you know the parent folder, start there: give it to mdfind with -onlyin, or put it in place of ~ in the find command. If you only know the folder is somewhere in your home folder, find ~ is the safest net, because it doesn't depend on the index being complete. Give it a more specific pattern than a single letter, or the list will run to thousands of lines. Pipe it through head -50 to look at the first fifty matches before you commit to reading all of them:

find ~ -type d -iname '*invoices*' 2>/dev/null | head -50

What Finder and Spotlight leave out

Finder and Spotlight searches leave out much of ~/Library, the insides of app packages, and drives Spotlight hasn't indexed, such as some external disks. If a folder you know exists doesn't show up in Finder, try find, or open Go > Go to Folder… and type the path.

Folders only in Everywhere

In Everywhere, click the Folders filter button, or type folder:invoices. Both list only folders whose names match, each shown with the folder it sits in. Like find, it treats app bundles as folders, and because it keeps its own index of names, folders inside ~/Library and hidden folders appear too; those in Desktop, Documents and Downloads need Full Disk Access.

Common questions

How do I search for only folders on a Mac?

In a Finder window, search, click the + below the search field, and set Kind to Folder. In Spotlight, type kind:folder with part of the name.

How do I find a folder on a Mac using Terminal?

Run find ~ -type d -iname '*name*' 2>/dev/null to walk the disk, or use mdfind with a public.folder content-type test for a faster index search.

Why doesn't Spotlight show my application when I search kind:folder?

Spotlight treats an application bundle as an app, not as a plain folder, so kind:folder leaves it out. Search kind:app for applications instead.

Can I save a folder search in Finder?

Yes. After setting the criteria, click Save below the search field to make a Smart Folder that updates itself, and keep Add To Sidebar selected if you want it in the sidebar.