What Is The Mac Spotlight App

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Search with Spotlight

  1. Click in the upper-right corner of the menu bar, or press Command-Space bar.
  2. Enter what you want to find. You can search for something like “apple store” or “emails from emily”.
  3. To open an item from the results list, double-click the item. Or to quickly look through the results, use the Up Arrow and Down Arrow keys.

May 15, 2019  Spotlight lets you find apps, documents, and other files and folders on your Mac. In fact, with Spotlight, you can search your Mac for anything. It is probably one of the most frequently used part of the macOS software. I, for example, use it constantly to quickly find what I am looking for on my Mac. Show the path of a search result (such as a file) on your Mac. Zoom in on an image preview. Control (then move two fingers on the trackpad to move the image around in the preview) Open the selected result. See a file in an app or the Finder. Command-R or Command-Double-click. Open a Finder window with the search field selected.

Search by file type or location

  • To search by file type, use the word “kind” and the file type. For example, type “kind:folders” or “kind:audio”.
  • To show the location of a file on your Mac, choose the file from the results list, then press and hold Command. The file’s location appears at the bottom of the preview. To open the file’s location, press Command-R.
  • To see all the results from your Mac in the Finder, scroll to the bottom of the results list, then double-click “Show all in Finder.”

Get definitions, calculations, and conversions

Spotlight can show you dictionary definitions, calculations, measurement conversions, and more. Find out more ways to search with Spotlight.

Here are examples of what you can do:

  • To get a definition, enter a word or phrase, then click the result in the Definition section.
  • To get a calculation, enter something like “2+2” in the search field.
  • To convert measurements, enter something like 25 lbs or “32 ft to meters”.

Find movie showtimes, weather, and nearby places

You can use Spotlight to search for movie showtimes, weather, and places near you.

Here are examples of what you can do:

  • To get showtimes, enter the name of the movie that you want to see. To see what's playing near you, enter “showtimes.”
  • To get local weather information, enter “weather.”
  • To find restaurants near you, enter something like “places to eat,” then click a result in the Maps section.
Apps

Learn more

  • Rebuild the Spotlight index on your Mac.
  • Use Search on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch.

Spotlight features might vary by country or region.

If you use your Mac every day for work and your personal life, chances are you have a lot of files, photos, folders, documents, and other data all over your Mac. It can make finding one specific file a pain in the butt. Luckily, Spotlight lets you search your Mac for pretty much anything, making it easy to find whatever you need. Here's how to use Spotlight on Mac.

What Spotlight can help you find

Spotlight helps you find pretty much anything on your Mac. It indexes the contents of your Mac's hard drive to make it easier to find documents, emails, apps, music, contacts, and other information. It can also help you find information on the web, perform equations, and now in High Sierra, it can even find your flight information.

How to access and use Spotlight in macOS

  1. Click on the Spotlight button in the menu bar, it looks like a magnifying glass. Or, use the Command + Space keyboard shortcut. The Spotlight search field will appear in the middle of your screen.

  2. Type in your search query. Spotlight will return results as you type.

Apple Mac Spotlight

Spotlight

If Spotlight isn't finding what you're looking for, you can adjust its search results to be optimized for what you need. You can also exclude specific locations of your hard disk to prevent Spotlight from searching information you'd prefer to keep private.

How to customize Spotlight search results

  1. Click on the Apple menu button on the top left of your screen.
  2. Click System Preferences.

  3. Click on Spotlight.

  4. Click the Checkbox beside the category to change what Spotlight will show you. If it has a checkmark, then those results will be displayed; if it doesn't, then those results will not be displayed.

Mac Spotlight Shortcut

How to hide content from Spotlight search

If you have sensitive documents in a certain location that you never want to be searched, you can tell Spotlight to not look in those locations.

  1. Click on the Apple menu button on the top left of your screen.
  2. Click System Preferences.

  3. Click on Spotlight.

  4. Click on the Privacy tab.

  5. Click on the add button. It's the + sign at the bottom left of the window.
  1. Click the item you don't want Spotlight to search for.
  2. Click Choose.

Questions?

Need any more help with Spotlight? Let us know in the comments below.

What Is The Mac Spotlight App

Updated September 2019: Updated for macOS Catalina.

macOS Catalina

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What Is The Mac Spotlight App Download

Closed for 2020

Apple says its offices in the US will not fully reopen until at least 2021

What Is The Mac Spotlight Application

According to a report from Bloomberg, Apple is planning for its office and many of its retail workers to remain remote for the rest of the year.