20 ways to get the most out of the Finder

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

Replacing folder icons, advanced search attributes, hiding files and much more.

1. Toolbar customization

Not only newbies, but many experienced users are unaware that Finder toolbar items are customizable. To change the position of the icons, drag them while holding down the Command key. Pulling icons out of the window makes them easy to remove.

You can also add action buttons to the panel. To do this, right-click on the top of the window, select "Customize Toolbar" and drag the desired items.

2. Adding folders and applications to the toolbar

Just like actions, folders and even applications can be added to the panel. To do this, simply drag the desired content onto the toolbar while holding down the Command key.

3. Replacing folder icons

To quickly find the folders you need, their standard icons can be replaced with more informative ones.

• Open the desired icon in the "Preview".
• Select the image by pressing Command + A and copy it by pressing Command + C.
• Go to the directory with the folder you want to replace, select it and press Command + I.
• In the window that opens, click on the current icon, and then on Command + V to insert a new icon.
• Close the information window.

4. Combining all windows

If you have many windows open while using the Finder, but you don’t need to drag and drop between them, it’s best to collect them into one window with several tabs. To do this, open the Window menu and select Merge All Windows.

5. Quickly change the width of columns in the "Columns" mode

The column display mode is one of the most popular. It is convenient and compact, but sometimes the file names do not fit in it.

To quickly adjust the column width to match the file names, simply double-click on the separator. To adjust the width of all columns at once, hold down the Option key and resize one of the columns.

6. Full screen preview

Everyone knows that when you press the spacebar, a preview of the file opens. But not everyone knows that if you press the spacebar while holding down Option, you can immediately open the preview in full screen mode.

If several files are selected, then clicking on the corresponding icon will open an index list for quick navigation.

7. Setting up a standard folder for new windows

By default, all new Finder windows and tabs open recent files, but you can choose a different directory if you want. To do this, open "Preferences" → "General" and in the drop-down menu "Show in new Finder windows" select any folder.

8. Batch renaming of files

You don't need to use expensive third-party utilities to rename multiple files according to specified templates; Finder's capabilities are enough. To change the names of several files at once, select them, select Rename Objects from the context menu and specify the required parameters.

9. "Cut" function

Although the keyboard shortcut Command + X is not available on the system, the function itself is still there. To use it, copy the file, then open the shortcut menu while holding down the Option key and select "Move Here". Or, after copying, just press Option + Command + V.

10. Search in the current folder

By default, the Finder searches the entire Mac, but the search behavior is easy to change. To do this, open "Settings" → "Add-ons" and select the "Search in current folder" option from the "When searching" drop-down menu.

11. Advanced search attributes

To search in Finder not only by file name, but also by other parameters, click the plus button in the search menu, select the desired attribute, or add it. Available include file type and content, bit rate, aperture value, and more.

12. Displaying the size of folders

In the Size column, the Finder only shows the weight of individual files. If you want to know more about folders, do the following:

• Switch to the "List" mode.
• Click on the gear and select Show View Options.
• Check the box next to "Calculate all sizes".

13. Displaying the path to files

By default, the Finder does not show the path to files, so it can sometimes be difficult to know which folder you are in. To always see the full path, open the "View" menu and click on the "Show path line" item. The path to the current directory will now be displayed at the bottom of the window.

Double-clicking on any of the folders along the way allows you to quickly navigate to it.

14. Displaying the path to files in the header

Another way to show the path to a file is to display it in the title bar of the window. To do this, copy this command:

defaults write com.apple.finder _FXShowPosixPathInTitle -bool true; killall finder

paste it into "Terminal" and press enter.

To cancel, use the following command:

defaults write com.apple.finder _FXShowPosixPathInTitle -bool false; killall finder

15. Copy the path to the file

Both methods from the previous paragraph only show the path to the file, but do not allow you to copy it. To do this, open the context menu while holding down the Option key and select "Copy path to …".

16. Show hidden files

For security reasons, Finder does not show hidden files and folders. To turn them on, just press Shift + Command +> in Finder. Press the shortcut again to hide.

17. Hiding folders

You can hide folders with important data from prying eyes if you drive the command into the "Terminal"

chflags hidden

and drag the required folder into the "Terminal" window. After pressing enter, it will disappear and will be visible only when you turn on the display of hidden files.

To make the folder visible again, use the command

chflags nohidden

18. Display the status bar

By default, the Finder does not display a status bar that displays useful information such as the number of items in the selected folder and free disk space. To enable it, open the "View" menu and select "Show status bar".

19. Displaying file extensions

For convenience, macOS hides file extensions so that only their names are displayed in the Finder. But to change the extension, you need to enable its display. To do this, just go to "Settings" → "Add-ons" and check the box next to the item "Show all file extensions".

20. Restarting Finder

It happens that the Finder freezes. To restore it to work, hold down the Option key, open the context menu and select "Restart". All Finder windows and desktop will blink and the program will restart.

In some cases, this does not help. Then you can use the command

killall finder

which you need to drive into the "Terminal" and press enter.