What Is a Spotlight Mac?
Apple’s Mac OS X operating system offers many features, including system-wide search with Spotlight. Spotlight, which is accessible from your Desktop or keyboard, lets you search your entire computer for any type of file, folder or application. You can search for file names or contents, specify the volume or folder you want to search and even filter your results.
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Spotlight in the Menu Bar
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You can access Spotlight directly from the top menu bar of your Mac’s Desktop through the magnifying glass icon located in the right corner. Click the icon and start typing the name for which you are searching. Spotlight shows instant results as you’re typing. You can click the result you want, use the arrow keys to select it or click “Show All” to view all results in a Finder window.
Spotlight Keyboard Shortcut
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Another way to access Spotlight is through keyboard shortcut commands. Press the “Command” key and “Space” bar at the same time to activate Spotlight through your top menu bar. You can begin typing what you’re looking for immediately after the key command. Press the “Command” and “Option” keys with the “Space” bar at the same time to bring up a Spotlight search in a Finder window.
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Setting Preferences
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Your Spotlight Preferences, which are located in your System Preferences, let you change the order in which results appear. For example, if you want files to appear before applications whenever you search for something, you can drag "Files" above "Applications" in your Preferences. You can also change your keyboard shortcuts if you prefer to use your own combination of keys.
Results Window
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If you want to filter your results, click “Show All” or bring up a new Spotlight search in a Finder window. Click “Name” to list your results by file name, “Kind” to list your results by file type or “Last Opened” to list your results by the most recently opened. Just above the results is the Search heading, where you can select what and how you want to search. This Mac, Desktop and any other volumes – such as an external hard drive – are present. Click the volume you want to search.
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