- Introduction
- Finding Information Using Spotlight
- Finding Information in the Spotlight Window
- Filtering Spotlight Results
- Grouping and Sorting Spotlight Results
- Working with Spotlight Results
- Setting Spotlight Preferences
- Searching for Files Using the Find Window
- Searching for Hard to Find Information
- Working with Find Window Results
- Creating and Using Smart Folders
- Getting Help While You Work
- Getting Help Using Spotlight
This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
Finding Information Using Spotlight
If you’re looking for specific content on your computer and you don’t know where to find it, you can use Spotlight to help you find it. Even if you can only remember part of the content. Spotlight performs a live search of your Home folder on your computer using the information you know. As you type in Spotlight, a menu appears displaying a list of everything Spotlight can find to match what you’ve typed so far. As you continue to type, the list changes. If you type two words, Spotlight finds items that contain both words. Spotlight searches for everything on your computer that matches what you’ve typed, which includes every file, folder, program, e-mail message, address book entry, calendar appointment, to-do item, picture, movie, PDF document, music file, web bookmark, document, and System Preferences panel, and lists the 20 best matches divided into categories, which you can customize later. Spotlight not only searches the names of your files and folders, it also searches their content, and displays a preview of the material from the menu. In addition, you can drag items from the Spotlight menu for use in folder or on the desktop. You can search by typing phrases or metadata attributes, and using boolean operators.
Find Information Using Spotlight
Click the Spotlight (magnifying-glass) icon on the menu bar.- TIMESAVER Press
+Space bar to open Spotlight. 
In the Spotlight field, type what you want to find. To find a specific phrase, place quotes around it.As you type, a menu begins to display a list of everything Spotlight can find to match what you’ve typed so far. As you continue to type, the list changes.
To preview an item, point to the item in the list.- TIMESAVER Press and hold to display more information.
To copy an item, drag the item off the Spotlight list.
To open an item, click the item or use the arrow keys to scroll down the list, and then press Return.
To clear or stop a search, click the Close button (x) in the Spotlight field.
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Find Information with Metadata Using Spotlight
- Click the Spotlight (magnifying-glass) icon on the right side of the menu bar.
- TIMESAVER Press +Space bar to open Spotlight.
- In the Spotlight field, type code:keyword. Use quotation marks around text to search for an exact phrase.
- Where the code is a category, such as kind, date, modified, or author, and keyword is a specific type of category.
Here are some examples:
- kind:preference network displays the network system preference on your computer.
- kind:contact steve displays all the contacts with the name steve on your computer.
- kind:music by:“Bruce Springsteen” displays all music by Bruce Springsteen.
- date:today kind:email displays all the email for today on your computer.
Find Code and Keywords
Find |
Code:Keyword |
Program |
kind:app, kind:application |
Address book contact |
kind:contact |
Folder |
kind:folder |
Mail message |
kind:email, kind:mail message |
iCal appointment |
kind:event |
iCal task |
kind:to do, kind:todo |
Image, picture |
kind:image |
Movie |
kind:movie |
Music or Sound |
kind:music, kind:audio |
PDF file |
kind:pdf |
System Preference |
kind:preference, kind:system preference |
Safari bookmark |
kind:bookmark |
Font |
kind:font |
Presentation |
kind:presentation |
Week |
date:this week, date:next week |
Month |
date:this month, date:next month |
Year |
date:this year, date:next year |
Today |
date:today |
Tomorrow |
date:tomorrow |
Yesterday |
date:yesterday |
Did You Know?
You can quickly cancel a Spotlight search. Press the Esc key to close the Spotlight menu and erase what you’ve typed. Now, you can type a new search. Press the Esc key again to cancel the entire search. To cancel the entire search in one step, press +Space bar again, +period, or +Esc.