How To Search For Directory Or File On Mac



How to search for directory or file on mac shortcut

Left-click your mouse anywhere on the screen of your Mac to reveal the Go Option in the top menu bar. You can also click on the Finder Icon in the Dock of your Mac to activate the Go option. Next, click on the Go option from the top menu-bar on your Mac and then click on Go to Folder option in the drop-down menu (See image below). Using the search box that sits in the top right corner of a Finder window defaults to searching everything on a Mac.

File Search is an essential part of Alfred's search functionality. It allows you to expand your search, navigate your Mac's directories and take action on files you find.

On this Feature page, you'll find out more about:

Looking for File Actions? They've moved in the Alfred 4 preferences, so you'll find the Actions documentation here instead. QuickLook and Previews have also been moved out of the File Search prefs.

File Search

Alfred's Default Results include the most essential file types; Applications, System Preferences, Contacts, and any file types you've added.

When you need to expand your search scope beyond these core file types included in Alfred's results, the File Search keywords are here to help you.

  • Use the 'open' keyword to open a file (or press the spacebar as a shortcut!)
  • Use the 'find' keyword to reveal the file in Finder
  • Use the 'in' keyword to search inside your files' content

You can customise these keywords in the Features > File Search preferences.

You can also choose which file types Alfred should not show in the results, and how many results Alfred should present.

If you're a Powerpack user, take a look at File Filters to create custom search filters based on file types or search scope, making your searches even more efficient.

File Navigation

Use Alfred to navigate through your Mac's file system. This is a great way to quickly make your way through folders without having to use the mouse.

Search

To start, type:

  • / (slash) to take you to the root folder on your Mac, or
  • ~ (tilde) to go to your user directory.

From here, start typing the first few characters of the next folder or file you want Alfred to narrow his search to or use the arrow keys to go down to the folder you need.

Not sure of the file name? Add a * (star) to the start of your search term to make it into a wildcard.

You can tweak which keys are used to navigate through and open folders in File Navigation in the Features > File Search > Navigation preferences.

Sorting Preferences and Order

Using the cog in bottom right of the File Navigation window, you can customise the sorting by Name, Creation Date or Last Modified Date, and whether you want to show folders at the top.

You can set the order to ascending or descending either in the cog preferences, or by clicking the arrow next to it to swap the order.

⌘ + Shift + I can be used to show and hide the preview on the right side.

File Buffer

The File Buffer allows you to select multiple files and add them to a buffer. You can then take action on all of these files at once!

The buffer is controlled by using the ⌥ (Alt) key in combination with the selected file in Alfred's results.

  • ⌥↑ to add a file to the buffer from Alfred's results
  • ⌥↓ to add a file and move to the next item in your list of results
  • ⌥← to remove the last item from the buffer
  • ⌥→ to action all items in the buffer
  • ⌥ backspace to remove all items from the buffer

You'll see an upwards arrow identifying the files you've already added to the buffer.

You can also see additional information about the particular file, as well as a cheatsheet of the key combinations when hovering over the files.

You can modify some of the preferences in Alfred's Preferences under Features > File Search > Buffer.

Want to take action on multiple files at once without first popping Alfred up? Select them in Finder and press the Finder Selection hotkey (which is ⌥⌘ by default) to bring up the Actions panel.

Recent Documents

The Recent Documents feature helps you locate the files you've opened last in a particular application.

Search for the application you're looking for and press the right arrow to show the list of file actions for your app. You'll then see the list of available file actions for it; Recent Documents will be at the top of the list. Press the Return key to see your latest documents.

Known issue: this feature is not fully compatible with Microsoft Office and some other non-Cocoa (non-native macOS) applications. In these cases, only files opened with Alfred will appear in results due to the limitation of the third party software.

Learning more about file search

Want to do even more with file search?

You can also take a look at the Guides and Tutorials for more ways to be productive when searching your Mac.

The Finder is the first thing that you see when your Mac finishes starting up. It opens automatically and stays open as you use other apps. It includes the Finder menu bar at the top of the screen and the desktop below that. It uses windows and icons to show you the contents of your Mac, iCloud Drive, and other storage devices. It's called the Finder because it helps you to find and organize your files.

Change how your files are displayed

To change how files are displayed in Finder windows, use the View menu in the menu bar, or the row of buttons at the top of the Finder window. You can view files as icons , in a list , in columns , or in a gallery . And for each view, the View menu provides options to change how items are sorted and arranged, such as by kind, date, or size. Learn more about customizing views.

How To Search For Directory Or File On Mac Shortcut


Gallery View, showing the sidebar on the left and the Preview pane on the right.

When you view files in a gallery, you can browse your files visually using large previews, so it's easy to identify images, videos, and all kinds of documents. Gallery View even lets you play videos and scroll through multipage documents. Earlier versions of macOS have a similar but less powerful gallery view called Cover Flow .

The sidebar in Finder windows contains shortcuts to AirDrop, commonly used folders, iCloud Drive, devices such your hard drives, and more. Like items in the Dock, items in the sidebar open with just one click.

To change the items in your sidebar, choose Finder > Preferences from the Finder menu bar, then click Sidebar at the top of the preferences window. You can also drag files into or out of the sidebar. Learn more about customizing the sidebar.

Search for files

To search with Spotlight, click the magnifying glass in the menu bar, or press Command–Space bar. Spotlight is similar to Quick Search on iPhone or iPad. Learn more about Spotlight.

To search from a Finder window, use the search field in the corner of the window:


When you select a search result, its location appears at the bottom of the window. To get to this view from Spotlight, choose “Search in Finder” or “Show all in Finder” from the bottom of the Spotlight search results.

How To Search For Directory Or File On Mac


In both Spotlight and Finder, you can use advanced searches to narrow your search results. You can also use tags to organize and find files.

Delete files

How To Find Directory Of A File On Mac

To move a file to the Trash, drag the file to the Trash in the Dock. Or select one or more files and choose File > Move To Trash (Command-Delete).

To remove a file from the Trash, click the Trash to open it, then drag the file out of the Trash. Or select the file and choose File > Put Back.

How To Search For Directory Or File On Mac File

To delete the files in the Trash, choose File > Empty Trash. The storage space used by those files then becomes available for other files. In macOS Sierra, you can set up your Mac to empty the trash automatically.