How to search for files on Mac: 3 ways that work

Knowing how to conduct a Mac file search is essential; files can be tricky to locate, especially if they're old. 

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.

Can'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. Let's get started.

How to find a file on Mac

There are a couple of ways you can locate missing, hidden, or forgotten files on a Mac:

• Mac Finder

• Spotlight search

• Terminal

In this article, we'll take a look at all three methods, so let's jump in.

How to find a file by name

Spotlight Search 

As 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 to find files via Spotlight search:

1. Press Command-Space to open a Spotlight search.

2. Type in the name of your file.

3. Once you locate it in the search results, select it to open.

Spotlight maintains an index of all files, emails, contacts, and calendar events, and searches by filename, content, and metadata. That is why search results appear instantly.

Spotlight search is an excellent way of finding apps, files, documents, and more on your Mac. The issue is that it doesn't allow you to set any search parameters or filters, and it's not particularly detailed. Thankfully, there is another way. 

Finder

Finder is Mac's built-in file management system, essentially the gateway to all your apps, documents, and files. It's also effortless to use. Here's how:

1. Open a Finder window.

2. Select the magnifying glass icon top right or press Command + F and type in your file name. You can also type any word or phrase that is in your file, and so you will find it by content.

3. As you type, files will start to appear: select the file to open it. 

4. 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".

Another tip here is to search by date rather than a name. If you know when the file was created, you could type a date in August 2021, and all files created will appear. 

A few extra tips on working with the Finder 

• Use the Command + Shift + G shortcut to paste the path to your target folder 
• Instead of the shortcut, use the Go/Go to Folder menu from the menu bar

This is essential for navigating to hidden or system directories. And with the Go menu, you can also access the Recents folder to see all of the files you've opened recently.

Also, you can create Smart Folders in the Finder for better organization of your files. Smart Folders automatically compile documents based on user-defined criteria, useful for organizing spreadsheets or files with specific keywords in titles. They update automatically when new matching files are added to your Mac. To create one, open a new Finder window, click File > New Smart folder from the menu bar, set criteria, and save. It will be added to the Finder's sidebar.

How to find files of a specific type

So what happens if you're not sure of the name or date the file was created? Easy, you can search for a file based on its type with Finder; here's how:

1. Open a Finder window.

2. In the search bar, type Kind: 

3. Behind this, without a space, enter the file type and press Return.

Here are some more example file types you might be looking for:

• Kind:png

• Kind:jpeg

• Kind:pdf

• Kind:audio

• Kind:music

Alternatively, you can use Finder's built-in filters. Start typing your search request and click + top right (next to Search: location). Click the dropdowns to select and apply your filters. You can click Other and gain access to a large library of different filters and search parameters. 

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.

You could repeat this search for all the different kinds of file types to see what is hiding, forgotten on your Mac, easting up your drive space; it's a bit time-consuming, but there is a much easier way, keep reading. 

Find and remove old files the easy way

If you don't have the patience for time-consuming manual search, I can highly recommend CleanMyMac.

It has a fantastic feature called My Clutter. You can see all your files in just a few clicks and then filter them by type, size, or date last accessed and remove them instantly. Big points because Apple also notarized the app, so it's safe and approved to use. And it can also detect duplicates and similar images. Just follow these easy steps:

1. Open the app — get a free trial.

2. Select My Clutter > Scan.

3. Review the findings in each tile.

4. Select items for deletion and press Remove.

How easy is that? Congratulations, you've just reclaimed some valuable space for your Mac. 

My favorite thing about this feature is the filter By Access Date in the Large & Old Files tile; I find it really interesting to see what's hiding in the One Year Ago section: it's amazing what we keep.

How to find files with Terminal

So we've looked at how to search a document on Mac with Spotlight Search and Finder, but what about Terminal?

If you're having trouble finding a particular file with the other methods, you can try Terminal. In Terminal, you can use the special command to perform a thorough and deep search.

Before we get started, it's essential that you know the file name. For example, I want to look for a file called: task.

• Press Command-Space and type Terminal, press Return.

• With Terminal now open, switch to the superuser by typing in the below command followed by Return:
  sudo su -

• You will next be prompted to enter your admin password. Type it and press Return, then type the search command below:
  find / -name task.txt

Copy the complete pathname and its format. The search can take up to several minutes. Once done, you will see your file followed by its full path.

• Open Finder; from the top, select Go > Go To Folder and paste in the path.
  

The Terminal Mac file search isn't for everyone. Thankfully, we've got Spotlight and Finder for those who are not comfortable running commands in Terminal.

Bonus tip: How to find hidden files on Mac

Some files are hidden by default. Mainly, these are system files and cached data, and you should not remove or edit them in order to prevent macOS corruption. However, if you still need to find them, you can use the Command+Shift+. (dot) shortcut. It will reveal all hidden files (they will be greyed out and their names will start with a dot), and you can use the same shortcut to hide them again.

Alternatively, you can run these two commands in Terminal:

defaults write com.apple.Finder AppleShowAllFiles TRUE

killall Finder 

To then hide the files again, replace TRUE with FALSE in the command above and run killall Finder, too.

You can try unhiding files if you are sure that the files you are looking for should be somewhere on your Mac, but none of the ways above helped you find them. However, remember not to delete any of these files — macOS hides them for a purpose. It would be safer to check the Trash and make sure you have not accidentally removed your file before unhiding anything. You can always recover a file from the Trash by right-clicking it and choosing Put Back.

We've reached the end, so now you comfortably know how to search for files on a Mac using three different methods, and as a bonus, you know how to locate large and old forgotten files for Mac space-saving. Make sure you check back soon for more great tips.