#How to search using finder on mac pdf#

Set tags and Spotlight comments on important documentsДЇile names and contents arenвЂ™t always perfect. Change the drop down box to вЂњSearch the Current FolderвЂќ to limit your searches.ДЈ. Open FinderвЂ™s preferences under the Finder menu.ДЈ. Set it to default to your current folder instead for more precise searches.ДЎ. If you want to add an operator to this search, click on the operator and click the вЂњOKвЂќ button.Д«y default, Finder will search your entire system when you type in the search box. You can also un-tick the default operators if you never use them.

This allows you to adjust the drop down to include your most-accessed operators. If you want the search operators to appear in the drop down menu from now on, tick вЂњIn MenuвЂќ on the left-hand side. To expand your search even further, chose вЂњOtherвЂ¦вЂќ in the first drop down to access a list of uncommon smart search operators. Keep adding search operators, or adjusting the existing operators to refine your search. There are a number of other options that can be applied. LetвЂ™s click the first drop down and select вЂњCreated date.вЂќ Now we can limit our search to files created in the last few days. By default, it will be вЂњLast Opened Date.вЂќ It will also search within documents by default.Д¬lick the вЂњ+вЂќ button again to add another operator.

#How to search using finder on mac pdf#

Of course, this will only include PDF files that match our search string. The first smart operator will automatically set a вЂњKind,вЂќ the next вЂњLast Opened Date,вЂќ and so on.ДЇor now, weвЂ™ll set the Kind to вЂњPDF,вЂќ so we only see PDF files in our search. By default, they add in a specific order, but can be modified by clicking the first drop down box. Then click on the вЂњ+вЂќ button below to add the first operator. These operators arenвЂ™t specified in the text box, but instead added to your keyword search after the face.ДЇirst, start a basic search in a Finder window by typing text in the search box. Moving beyond text-based operators, smart operators allow you to search with preset system tools. Unless you know exactly when you created the file, itвЂ™s not typically that useful. This will search for files from that date only, and none of the days around it. You can further narrow your search by using the created and modified operators which accept an eight-digit date, like so. The date operator use relative date operations, so yesterday also works. Using date:today will only search for files from today. Similarly, you can use the date operator to limit your scope to files of a certain date or recency. If youвЂ™ve seen something there, you can use it as a keyword. It scans the text under the вЂњKindвЂќ title. The file type can be almost anything, from a word like вЂњdocumentвЂќ to an extension like. The most common text operator, kind, is written like so: kind: As when searching in Google with advanced options, these text cues refine and control your search behavior beyond keywords. The simplest but least powerful way to target your search is with textual operators. You can control what files appear with simple text operators and more flexible smart operators. Use search operatorsДЇinderвЂ™s search box goes beyond simple keyword search. HereвЂ™s how you can unlock the power of Finder and search for files on macOS more effective. Users can work on Macs for years without realizing how capable FinderвЂ™s search is beyond simple keyword search. While the built-in search tools for Finder are powerful, theyвЂ™re not immediately discoverable. Macs are awesome, but macOS search isnвЂ™t always great.