Even if you meticulously delete files as soon as you are done with them, your computer still contains thousands of files and folders. Unless you know exactly where you or your MacBook saved a file, you could end up opening folders all day looking for something and still never find it. Fortunately, you don't need to waste all of that time. You can just search for what you want by using one of the two easy options provided by your trusty MacBook.
The Find function offers a way to quickly search for files on your computer using a variety of search criteria. This is a great tool if you want to search for a specific file type or if you have a lot of information about the file you want to search for. To use Find, open a new Finder window by clicking on Happy Mac or going to File > New Finder Window. Click File > Find to open the Finder dialog box.
First select the location that you want to search by clicking it in the sidebar. You can select your hard drive and external storage devices, or you can choose a more specific location like a particular folder. You can use the plus (+) and minus (–) buttons to add or remove additional search criteria, such as the file type or date the file was last modified.
Once you've filled in as much information as you have about the file, type the name, if you know it, in the text box that contains the magnifying glass icon. Your results will appear in the Results window below the search form.
Spotlight is a more basic way to search for files. The Spotlight search box is always available in the upper-right corner of your MacBook screen. See the magnifying glass icon? Just click on it, then type in your search term and Spotlight will quickly search your entire computer for files that contain your search terms.
The Spotlight results appear below the text box, helpfully arranged by file type, with the file that your MacBook thinks is the most relevant located at the top and labeled Top Hit. You can double-click a result to open it, or you can place your cursor over the result and see the location of the file.
Try searching for the most unique word you recall being in the target file to receive the most relevant results. If you are searching for a word that is common to many files, your search results could be extensive. If you can't recall a unique word, it's a better idea to use Find instead of Spotlight.
Sometimes it's hard to tell exactly what a file is by looking at its name. This is especially true of photo files since most digital cameras use a standard naming convention when downloading files. If you want to see what a document contains without having to open the application that it's associated with, you can do this with the Quick Look button on the toolbar.
Open a new Finder window and locate the document you want to preview. Select the file and then click the Quick Look button. A preview of the document will be displayed. You can also access Quick Look by selecting the file and pressing the space bar. Select and view multiple files by commandclicking each file to select it and then clicking the Quick Look button.
If the document you are previewing in Quick Look contains multiple pages, you will be able to scroll through them using the scroll bar. You can also switch to the fullscreen view by clicking the arrows at the bottom of the Quick Look window.
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