by on January 30, 2011 Leave a Comment

The Secret to Keeping Junk Out of Your Spotlight Results

Have you ever tried search for files using Spotlight only to get buried by a bunch of irrelevant results? If so, this quick tip should help you clean up your Spotlight results.

Spotlight has a handy feature that allows you to exclude certain directories from the Spotlight results. You can use it to exclude junk email folder, temporary directories and even Time Machine backup volumes. It’s pretty easy to setup.

First, open up the Spotlight Preferences Pane. Click System Preferences -> Spotlight.

Next, click the Privacy Button

This opens up a list of directories that you wish to exclude from your results. Choose them and click ok. You’ll see the directories appear in the Privacy list.

Hope that helps you keep your Spotlight results more relevant.

by on January 20, 2011 Leave a Comment

Save Spotlight Searches in the Finder Sidebar

This is a bit of a quickie Finder and Spotlight tip inspired by a comment I made over on the Cultofmac blog.

As you know you can use Spotlight from a Finder window to search for files. Here for example, I’m searching for all the Indie MP3s in my music collection.

So here is the cool part. If you click the Save button you are given the option to put the search into the Sidebar. Once you do this then anytime you need to run a search you can just click the icon in the side bar. Sweet.

by on September 11, 2009 2 Comments

11 Ways to get more out of Spotlight

I feel like I’m on a Spotlight kick. Rather than reinvent the wheel, check out this article that highlights some additional ways you can use Spotlight.

Here is one that I didn’t know:

7. Open The Parent Folder

So Spotlight just found the file that is buried deep somewhere on your computer. Pressing enter will automatically launch the file, but what if you wanted to reveal the file in Finder? The trick is to hold down the Command key while pressing enter. This will open the parent folder of the file so you can see it in Finder.

If you are not into using a mouse, there is another way to do this. From the spotlight results window, use the arrow keys to move down to the file you are interested in and press Command+R which is the universal shortcut for “Reveal in Finder.” Pretty cool.

Check it out and if you have any other tips for using Spotlight let us know.

by on September 10, 2009 1 Comment

Customize Spotlight Makes your Searches Smarter

Spotlight is an indispensable tool for finding files on your Mac. In an earlier tutorial we showed you how to get your feet wet with this great tool. However, it really shines when you apply customizations. In this video tutorial we look at how to use the Spotlight Preferences to make your searches even better.

by on August 29, 2009 Leave a Comment

Find lost files and folder with Spotlight

I find myself often forgetting where I put files on my system. When this happens I generally spend a few minutes hunting around my system trying to recall exactly what folder I put my files in. I don’t do this any longer because of a discover I made which is going to change the way you use your Mac.

Mac OSX includes a great built-in search engine called Spotlight which help you use your computer more efficiently. With it, you will no longer be stuck trying to remember where you saved that document, what website address had that recipe you liked and what the name of that MP3 file was.

This introductory video outlines the overall features of Spotlight