If you’re looking for specific content on your computer or network and you don’t know where to find it, you can use Spotlight to help you locate it. Spotlight not only searches the names of your files and folders, it also searches their content. In addition, Spotlight searches other information stored in files, known as metadata, which describes how and when and by whom a particular set of data was collected, or how the data is formatted. Examples of metadata include authors, page size, creation and modification dates, duration of music and movies, dimensions of graphics or PDF documents, exposure time of a camera lens for photographs, and names of layers in Photoshop.
Spotlight is conveniently located on the right side of the menu bar on your Mac screen. You can identify Spotlight by the blue icon with a magnifying glass. 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. 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, picture, movie, PDF document, music file, Web bookmark, Microsoft Office document, and System Preferences panel, and lists the 20 best matches divided into categories, which you can customize later.
When you start Leopard for the first time, Spotlight automatically starts collecting search information about your Home folder, known as indexing. The indexing process initially takes about 15 to 30 minutes to perform (the Spotlight icon pulses) and then updates take place as needed. Indexing the information on your computer reduces the time it takes to perform a search.
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, Microsoft Office 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. You can search by typing phrases or metadata attributes, and using boolean operators (New!).
Click the Spotlight (magnifying-glass) icon on the right side of the menu bar.
In the Spotlight field, start to type what you want to find. To find a specific phrase, place quotes around it. For example, “Apple Computer.”
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 open an item on the menu, 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.
Click the Spotlight (magnifying-glass) icon on the right side of the menu bar.
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.
If you can’t find what you’re looking for on the Spotlight menu with the 20 most likely matches, you can click the Show All command at the top of the Spotlight menu to open the Spotlight window and view the complete list of matches organized by category. The Show All command displays the results of your search by retrieving content on your entire computer that matches the criteria. The Search bar, located below the toolbar, indicates the search location and type, which is “This Mac” and “Contents” by default. You can search your entire computer (This Mac), your Home folder, or shared network computer by either the contents of a file or the file name.
Click the Spotlight (magnifying-glass) icon on the right side of the menu bar.
In the Spotlight field, start to type what you want to find.
Click Show All on the Spotlight menu.
The Spotlight window opens, displaying the results of your search by category.
If a search is currently in progress, a sprocket icon whirls around in the upper-left corner of the window.
To narrow or change the search, type the text you want to find in the Search field.
To open an item, double-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 Search field.
When you’re done, click the Close button.
Press Option+
+Space bar or click Show All on the Spotlight menu to open the Spotlight window.The Spotlight window opens, displaying the results of your search by category.
If a search is currently in progress, a sprocket icon whirls around in the upper-left corner of the window.
In the Search bar, click the button with the search location you want:
Servers. Searches the server disks connected to your computer.
Computer. Searches all the disks on your computer.
Home. Searches your Home folder.
Volume “Hard Disk” or Folder “Name.”. Searches only the currently opened volume or folder.
Contents or File Name. Searches file contents or file name.
To narrow or change the search, type the text you want to find in the Search field.
To open an item, double-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 Search field.
When you’re done, click the Close button.
If the list of Spotlight results is too long to find the results you want, you can revise your search text in the Search field or use the Search bar to filter, or narrow down, the list. The Search bar allows you to filter down the Spotlight results by location and type. The left side of the Search bar provides buttons to filter the search results by where the information is stored, such as This Mac (your entire computer), SteveJ (your Home folder), or Shared (your networked computers), if available. After you select where, you can select how. You can filter the result by whether the search criteria is in the content of a file or the file name of the results. If you want to further narrow down the Spotlight results, you can add other search criteria using file attributes.
Press Option+
+Space bar or click Show All on the Spotlight menu to open the Spotlight window, and then perform or narrow a search.The Spotlight window displays the results of your search by category.
In the Search bar, click the button with the search location you want:
Servers. Searches the server disks connected to your computer.
Computer. Searches all the disks on your computer.
Home. Searches your Home folder.
Volume “Hard Disk” or Folder “Name.”. Searches only the currently opened volume or folder.
The Computer command displays or restores the full results list on all your drives in the Spotlight window.
In the Search bar, click Contents or File Name to specify how you want the results to appear.
When you’re done, click the Close button.
Press Option+
+Space bar or click Show All on the Spotlight menu to open the Spotlight window.The Spotlight window opens, displaying the results of your search by category.
If a search is currently in progress, a sprocket icon whirls around in the upper-left corner of the window.
Click the Action button, and then click Show Search Criteria.
The Spotlight items option appears in the first Search pop-up, indicating Spotlight results in the window.
Click the Add (+) button, and then specify the criteria you want.
Click the first Search pop-up of the second criteria item, and then select or type the search criteria.
Select Other on the pop-up to display a complete list of searchable attributes.
Click the second Search pop-up of the second criteria item, and then select or type more specific search criteria
To remove search criteria, click the Remove (-) button.
Click the Action button, and then click Hide Search Criteria.
To clear or stop a search, click the Close button (x) in the Search field.
When you’re done, click the Close button.
After you perform a search using the Spotlight window, you can use the column header button in List or Cover Flow view to group and sort the results of your search to make it easier to find what you’re looking for. Clicking on one of the column header buttons (such as Name, Kind, or Last Opened) in the search result window in either List or Cover Flow view, sorts the files and folders by the type of information listed in the column. If the columns are not organized in the order you want, you can use the mouse to quickly drag a column header to rearrange them.
Press Option+
+Space bar or click Show All on the Spotlight menu to open the Spotlight window, and then perform or narrow a search.The Spotlight window displays the results of your search by category.
Click the List View or Cover Flow button on the toolbar to display the search results in list form.
Click any of the following column header names to sort the file and folder in ascending or descending order:
Kind. List by kind of item, including applications, documents, or images.
Name. List in alphabetical order by element name.
Last Opened. List by the date you last opened it.
To reverse the column sort, click the column header name again.
When you’re done, click the Close button.
After you perform a search using the Spotlight window, you can Control-click an item to display a shortcut menu and get more information about an item in the Spotlight results. When you Control-click an item, the shortcut menu allows you to open the item, get information about the item from the Get Info dialog box, locate the item in the Finder, display a slide show for graphic items, create an e-mail with attachments using Mail, or create workflow actions using Automator.
Press Option+
+Space bar or click Show All on the Spotlight menu to open the Spotlight window, and then perform or narrow a search.The Spotlight window displays the results of your search by category.
Option-click the item(s) you want, and then click the option you want:
Open. Opens the selected item(s).
Get Info. Opens the Get Info dialog box with basic file infor-mation for the selected item(s).
Open Enclosing Folder. Displays the selected item(s) in a Finder window.
Quick Look. View the contents of a file or folder without opening it.
Mail. Point to Open With to open an e-mail message with the selected item(s) as attachments.
Create Workflow. Point to More, and then point to Automator to open the Automator program with the selected item(s) as a “Get Specified Finder Items” action.
When you’re done, click the Close button.
You can change Spotlight preferences to customize the way you use Spotlight. You can specify the categories, such as Applications, Documents, Folders, and so on, you want or don’t want to include in a Spotlight search. In addition, you can change the order of the categories to prioritize the way the results appears. If you prefer different shortcut keys to display the Spotlight menu or open the Spotlight window, you can change them. When Spotlight performs a search, it looks every where on your computer (except for someone else’s Home folder). If you want to keep certain disks, partitions, or folders private, you can add them to your privacy settings in Spotlight preferences. When you add an item to the privacy list, Spotlight removes them from the Spotlight index.
Click the System Preferences icon in the Dock, and then click the Spotlight icon.
Click the Search Results tab.
Select the check boxes you want to include in the search results or clear the check boxes you don’t want to include in the search results.
To change the order to the search results categories, drag the categories to the location you want.
Click the Close button.
Click the System Preferences icon in the Dock, and then click the Spotlight icon.
Click the Privacy tab.
Drag the items (disks, partitions, or folders) to the list of non-searchable items from the desktop, or click the Add (+) button, navigate to the item, and then click Choose.
To delete an item, click the item, and then press Delete or click the Remove (-) button.
Click the Close button.
Click the System Preferences icon in the Dock, and then click the Spotlight icon.
Select the Spotlight menu keyboard shortcut check box, click the list arrow, and then select the shortcut you want.
Select the Spotlight window keyboard shortcut check box, click the list arrow, and then select the shortcut you want.
Click the Close button.
Spotlight provides a quick and easy way to search for files, but if you need to perform a more specific search, the Find window can help you search for what you need. The Find window lets you specify where and how you want to search—Servers, Computer (everywhere), Home, or Shared, and Contents or File Name. You can also narrow your search by selecting or typing a specific list of criteria—such as name, location, size, kind, color label, extension, type, and by creation or last modification date—available in the Find window. For example, you can search for all graphic files with the .jpg extension you created last month that contain web. After you complete a search, a separate results window opens. Unlike the Spotlight, you can change the criteria and perform a new search, and then compare the results.
Open a Finder window, and then display a drive or folder if you want to narrow the search.
Click the File menu, and then click Find.
You can also use the Search field located in every Finder window.
In the Search field, type the text in which you want to search.
Click the button with the search location you want:
Servers. Searches the server disks connected to your computer.
Computer. Searches all the disks on your computer.
Home. Searches your Home folder.
Volume“Hard Disk” or Folder “Name.”. Searches only the currently opened volume or folder.
Contents or File Name. Searches criteria by file contents or file name.
Click the first Search pop-up, and then select or type the search criteria; options vary depending on the criteria.
Kind. Finds files that are or aren’t a certain kind.
Last Opened. Finds files that you last opened.
Last Modified. Finds files according to the date modified.
Created. Finds files according to the date created.
Keywords. Finds files according to words and phrases.
Color Label. Finds files according to label color.
Name. Finds all or part of a file name (capitalization doesn’t matter); select another option, such as Contains, Starts With, Ends With, or Is.
Contents. Finds words inside your file; handy if you don’t remember the name.
Size. Finds files based on size, such as Equal to, Greater than, or Less than.
Other. Finds files based on other attributes.
Click the second Search pop-up, and then select or type more specific search criteria.
To add search criteria, click the Add (+) button, and then specify the criteria you want.
To remove search criteria, click the Remove (-) button.
The search results appear in the window.
To pause or stop a search in progress, click the X button.
In addition to searching for typical information, such as name, location, size, or kind, you can also search for file specific metadata, such as visibility (visible files, not hidden one used by Mac OS X), duration, dimensions, pixel height and width, device make, and layers. There are over 115 different metadata search attributes from which to choose. For example, you can select search attributes to find visible files (not hidden ones used by Mac OS X), the duration of music and movies, the dimensions of graphics or PDF documents, the device used to acquire a document, and the names of layers in Photoshop.
In the Finder, click the File menu, and then click Find.
You can also use the Search field located in every Finder window.
In the Search field, type the text in which you want to search.
At the top of the window, click the button with the search location you want: Servers, Computer, Home, Volume or Folder, and Contents or File Name.
Click the first Search pop-up, and then click Other.
Select the search attribute you want to find.
Click OK.
After you perform a search with the Find window, you can perform a variety of file management operations directly with the Find window results, which are similar to the ones you can perform in the Finder. For example, you can get file information, and move, copy, rename, or delete a file directly in the search results window. In addition, you can display the location of a file in the search results window, and then open its folder location or open the file.
After you perform a search with the Find window, you can use the following options to work with the results:
Find the location of a file. Click a file to display the location in the Path bar at bottom of the window.
Open the location of a file. Click the File menu, and then click Open Enclosed Folder.
Open a file. Double-click the file icon.
Move or delete a file. Drag the file to a new location or the Trash.
Rename a file. Click its name, select the text, and then type a new name.
Copy a file. Use the Copy and Paste commands on the Edit menu.
Get file information. Click the File menu, and then click Get Info.Add criteria to Spotlight Comments for use in Spotlight searches.
Sort the result by category. Click the column header.
Start a new search. Change the text in the Search field, or click the Close (x) button in the Search field and type a new search.
Close the search. Click the Close button or press
+W.
A Smart folder is a self-updating folder that performs a search based on the search criteria you set and save in the Search dialog box. You can create a Smart folder by specifying a search in the Search dialog box and then saving it as a saved search. For example, if you set up a search for Last Opened and This week, and saved it as a Smart folder. When you double-clicked the Smart folder, it opens displaying the files you’re currently working on.
Click the File menu, and then click New Smart Folder.
Use the Add (+) button to specify the search criteria you want to save as a Smart folder.
Click the Save button.
Type a name for the Smart folder.
Specify the location where you want to save the Smart folder.
The default location is the Saved Searches folder.
Select or clear the Add To Sidebar check box (New!) to either add or not add the Smart folder to the sidebar.
Click Save.
To use a Smart folder, click the Smart folder icon on the Sidebar, or navigate to the Saved Searches folder, and then double-click it.
The Saved Searches folder is located in the Library folder, which is located in the Home folder.
Navigate to the Smart folder you want to edit; double-click the folder in the Smart folder to open it.
The Smart folder is located in the Saved Searches folder in the Library folder, which is located in the Home folder.
You can also use the Sidebar to select a Smart folder.
Click the Actions menu, and then click Show Search Criteria.
Change the search criteria you want to modify.
Click Save.
Click the Actions menu, and then click Hide Search Criteria.
The Sidebar appears in every Finder window. At the bottom of the Sidebar, the Search For section (New!) displays icons for Smart folders, which is a self-updating folder that performs a search based on the search criteria. The default Smart folder icons include Today, Yesterday, Past Week, All Images, All Movies, and All Documents. You can add your own Smart folders to the Sidebar or modify the ones already on the Sidebar.
When you have a question about how to do something in Mac OS X, you can usually find the answer with several clicks of your mouse. Mac OS X Help is a resource of information to help you use Mac OS X Leopard. The Mac OS X Help is like an online book with a table of contents, complete with a search feature, and additional links to the Internet to make finding information a little bit easier. You can access help from the Help menu in the Finder as well as many other Mac OS X applications, such as Safari and iChat; you can even switch between the different help libraries using the Home button. If you see the Help button (question mark) in a window or dialog, you can click it to get feature related help. If you have an Internet connection, Help retrieves online updates to Mac OS X Help content as necessary. For additional help and support information, visit the Apple Computer Web site at www.apple.com.
In the Finder, or any other application, click the Help menu, and then click Mac Help or Help <application name>.
To select another Help, click and hold the Home button, and then click a help library.
Click a link in the Help window until you find the topic with the information you’re looking for.
Use the Help toolbar to navigation help topics:
Click the Home button to return to the first page of the help.
Click the Back and Forward button to view previously viewed topics.
Click the Index link to display an index like the back of this book. Click a letter to narrow the list, and then click the topic you want to display. Click the Home link to display the first page of the help.
Click the Close button to quit Help.
In the Finder, or any other application, click the Help menu, and then click Mac Help or Help <application name>.
Click the magnifying glass in the Search field, and then click Search Mac Help or Search All Help.
Click in the Search field.
Type the words you want to find in the help topics, and then press Return.
A list of matches appears with a Relevance column ranking the results by percentage.
Double-click the topic you want to read in the search results list.
Use the navigation buttons (Back and Forward) on the Help toolbar to move between help topics.
Click the Close button to quit Help.
In addition to using Spotlight to find files and other information on your computer, you can also use Spotlight to quickly find help information. When you click the Help menu, the Spotlight Search field (New!) appears at the top, where you can type the help information you want to find and display. You can access help from the Help menu in the Finder as well as many other Mac OS X applications, such as Safari and iChat. When you select a help topic from the Help menu, the Help window appears displaying the topic. If you want to display all the related help topics, click Show All Results. A complete search results appears, where you can double-click a topic to display it. If available, menu items appear on the Help menu, where you can select it to display an blue arrow pointing to the location of the menu (New!).
Click the Help menu.
In the Spotlight Search field, start to type what you want to find. To find a specific phrase, place quotes around it. For example, “Spotlight”
As you type, a menu begins to display a list of everything Spotlight can find in Help to match what you’ve typed so far. As you continue to type, the list changes.
On the Help menu, select one of the following options:
Display a Help Topic. Click the Help topic item or use the arrow keys to scroll down the list, and then press Return to open the Help window.
Show All Results. Click Show All Results to display the search results for help topics, and then double-click the topic you want to open the Help window.
Display a Menu Item. Point to the Menu item name to display a blue arrow pointing to the location of the menu item.
Click the Close button to quit Help.
