Spotlight does this by creating an index of all the different items and files, including documents, pictures, videos, applications, and system settings on the system, which allows it to function like a selection-based search engine that pulls up results for all the different kinds of queries you make. Besides finding and launching apps, Spotlight also lets you perform calculations, look up definitions of words, convert units, and find items using natural language search, among other things.
Mac Spotlight Search Tips and Tricks
Assuming Spotlight is the default search app on your Mac, the following are a few tips and tricks to get better at performing searches on your Mac.
1. Invoke Spotlight Search Quickly
One of the basic yet essential Spotlight tricks is to use a keyboard shortcut to invoke Spotlight Search from anywhere on the system. While the default way to do this, preferred by most users, is to click on the magnifier icon in the menu bar, using a keyboard shortcut — Command+Space — makes the process a lot quicker.
2. Search Apps by Their Initials
Most of us find an app on our Mac by either entering its full name in the Spotlight Search window or entering a part of it for Spotlight to find a match and return the appropriate app. While this works just fine, there is a much quicker and easier way to do this, which involves searching for an app using its initials. So, say you want to run Sublime Text, rather than typing “Sublime Text” or “Sublime”, you can query “ST”, and Spotlight will pull up the app for you.
3. Perform Calculations
Spotlight Search makes performing calculations on a Mac extremely easy: you simply type the equations you want to solve in the Spotlight Search window to get the results without having to open the calculator app. It is, however, only possible to do basic calculations on Spotlight.
4. Define Words
Although there are various dictionary apps (and also Google search) to look up meanings of words, Spotlight saves you a few steps and puts the same functionality at your fingertips. So you can simply invoke the search and type “define”, followed by the word you want meaning of, and Spotlight will return its definition.
5. Convert Units
Much like calculations, converting units is another useful functionality that you get with Spotlight Search. To use it, enter a value-unit pair that you want to convert along with the unit in which you want the result. For example, if you need to convert 10 km to miles, enter “10km to miles”. Besides converting units, you can also use Spotlight Search to convert currencies, although the exchange rate it would use might not be real-time.
6. Filter Spotlight Search Results
By default, Spotlight Search helps you find items across a broad range of categories like applications, bookmarks, contacts, folders, music, etc. However, if you want to declutter the results or do not want to see results for specific categories, Apple lets you disable Spotlight Search results for such categories. To do this, open System Preferences and go to Spotlight. In the Search Results tab, uncheck the box next to the categories for which you do not want to see Spotlight search results.
7. Exclude a Folder From Spotlight Search Results
Similar to filtering Spotlight Search results by preventing item indexing from specific categories, you can also exclude specific folders on your Mac to prevent Spotlight from searching for items in them. You might want to do this to avoid unnecessary (temporary files) from being indexed, which can sometimes lead to irrelevant results. To do this, open System Preferences and select Spotlight. Click on the Privacy tab and hit the plus (+) sign at the bottom right. Navigate your way through storage to select the folder from which you do not want to see results in Spotlight and select Choose.
8. Search Specific Kinds of Files
For times when you want to find a particular file type on your Mac, Spotlight Search offers the option to modify search parameters to increase your chances of finding the correct file. You can do this by typing out the file name and appending “kind: format_type”. For example, if you want to look for a PDF file with the name “sample”, you will enter “sample kind: pdf” to find the particular file.
9. Search With Boolean Operators
In addition to using search operators for advanced search filtering, you can also use boolean operators (AND, OR, NOT) for complex search queries. For example, if you want to find a PDF file named “sample” that was created on, say, March 1, 2021, you need to enter “sample kind:pdf AND 1/3/2021” into Spotlight search to find it on your Mac.
10. Clear Spotlight Search Quickly
When you make a query on Spotlight Search — irrespective of whether you act on its result or not — you will notice that the query remains in Spotlight even when you invoke Spotlight next time, requiring you to clear it before entering another query. You can, of course, do this by hitting the Delete key. However, there is a more efficient way of doing this, which involves using keyboard shortcuts (Command+Delete or Esc) to clear the search window immediately instead of performing multiple keypresses.
11. Track Flight Status Live
Apple allows you to search for live flight status right from the Spotlight Search bar, so you can avoid having to open/visit flight-tracking apps or websites for the same. To find a flight’s live status, all you need to do is enter the flight number of the flight you want to track, and Spotlight will show its live status.
12. Search Items Using Natural Language
Spotlight Search supports natural language search, which relies on algorithms to make sense of the words (in your queries) in the right context and serve you with relevant results accordingly. Using natural language, you can look up a lot of different items on your Mac. For example, you can type “unread emails” to view all your unread emails, query “photos from march” to find all the photos (including screenshots) from the month of March, or type “documents I created yesterday” to view all the documents you created yesterday — the scope of use is limitless. Here are a few more example use-cases of using natural language to make queries on Spotlight:
13. Find Results on the Internet
If you are not satisfied with the results for your Spotlight Search query, you can look up the same search term on the internet right from Spotlight. To do this, with your query entered into the search field, press Command+B. Spotlight will then look it up on the internet using the default search engine on your Mac‘s primary (default) browser.
14. View the File Path of a File
When you search for a file on your Mac using Spotlight Search, it returns the result along with a few details like the file format, file size, and date of creation. It does not, however, display the path where the file is present on the system. But, you can do this by selecting the file with the arrow keys and pressing and holding the Command key.
15. Essential Spotlight Search Keyboard Shortcuts
Apple offers a few different keyboard shortcuts for Spotlight Search to help you navigate your way better through the search results. Here is a list of all these shortcuts:
Command+space: to open/close Spotlight window Return: to open a result Command+R: open a file in an app or Finder Option+Command+Space: open a Finder window with the selected search field Tab: to view the preview area Up arrow: move to the previous result Down arrow: move to the next result Command+Up arrow: move to the first result in the category Command+Down arrow: move to the last result in the category
Finding Items on Your Mac Efficiently With Spotlight Search
By incorporating the tips and tricks mentioned above in your Spotlight searches, you should be able to find files on your Mac more efficiently and perform a bunch of other app-specific operations without having to open those apps. Besides, if you still find Spotlight Search lacking in functionality, you can use Alfred for a powerful and customizable search experience on your Mac.
