So we've looked at how to search a document on Mac with Spotlight Search and Finder, but what about Terminal? My favorite thing about this feature is the filter By Access Date I find it really interesting to see what's hiding in the One Year Ago section: it's amazing what we keep. How easy is that? Congratulations, you've just reclaimed some valuable space for your Mac. Select items for deletion and press Remove.
Use the filter to search through your items. Select Large & Old files from the left sidebar and press scan.
Open the app - download the free version. Big points because Apple also notarized the app, so it's safe and approved to use. You can see all your files in just a few clicks and then filter them by type, size, or date last accessed and remove instantly. It has a fantastic module called Large & Old Files.
If you don't have the patience for time-consuming manual search, I can highly recommend CleanMyMac X. You could repeat this search for all the different kinds of file types to see what is hiding, forgotten on your Mac, consuming your hard drive space it's a bit time consuming, but there is a much easier way, keep reading.
When searching by file type, I often find many files that I had forgotten entirely about: these files take up valuable space on my Mac, so I make sure I remove them by sending them to the Trash. Here are some more example file types you might be looking for: So what happens if you're not sure of the name or date the file was created? Easy, you can search for file based on its type with Finder here's how:īehind this, without a space, enter the file type and press enter. If you know when the file was created, you could type a date in August 2021, and all files created will appear. If you can't see your file yet, toggle search locations at the top of the returned results as you can see from mine, I can specifically search in "This Mac,” "Desktop,” or "Shared".Īnother tip here is to search by date rather than a name. Select the magnifying glass icon top right and type in your file name.Īs you type, files will start to appear: select the file to open it. Thankfully there is another way.įinder is Mac's built-in file management system, essentially the gateway to all your apps, documents, and files. The issue is, it doesn't allow you to set any search parameters or filters, and it's not particularly detailed. Spotlight search is an excellent way of finding apps, files, documents, and more on your Mac. Once you locate it in the search results, select it to open. Press Command-Space to open a Spotlight search. How to find a file by nameĪs long as you know the name of the file you're searching for, the absolute easiest and quickest way to search a document on Mac is with a Spotlight search here's how: In this article, we'll take a look at all three methods, so let's jump in. There's a couple of ways you can locate missing, hidden, or forgotten files on a Mac: No matter how organized you are, sometimes files just aren't where you thought you'd left them - leaving you scratching your head and pondering what to do next.Ĭan't find your file? No problem, I've put together some straightforward tips to show you how to search for files on a Mac quickly. Knowing how to conduct a Mac file search is essential files can be tricky to locate, especially if they're old.