OS X Yosemite: Narrow down search results
When searching in Spotlight or the Finder, you can add criteria to a basic search, perform Boolean queries, and search items’ metadata.
Add criteria to a search
You can focus a search by adding criteria to a basic search. For example, you can search for particular kinds of files, or for items created on a particular date.
-
Click the Spotlight icon
in the menu bar, then enter your search. -
Double-click Show All in Finder at the bottom of the search results list to open a Finder search window.
-
Click Add
on the right side of the search window, below the search field. -
Click the far-left pop-up menu, then choose your search criteria.
For example, to search only a certain type of item instead of all items, choose Kind. Or to search for any item whose name contains a particular word or phrase, choose Name.
-
To add more choices to the far-left pop-up menu, choose Other, then select each attribute you want to add.
For example, to search copyright information, select Copyright in the list of attributes, then click OK.
-
Add or remove search criteria as needed by clicking Add
or Remove
.
To appear in the search results, an item must match all your criteria. For example, if one criterion specifies searching for items whose name begins with S and you add a criterion to search for items created today, the search results include only items created today whose names begin with S.
Perform a Boolean query
A Boolean query uses AND, OR, and NOT (known as Boolean operators) to narrow search results. You can also use a minus sign (–), which means AND NOT, to exclude items when you search.
Here are examples of what you might type in the search field when you use Boolean operators:
-
author:tom OR author:thom searches for items authored by Tom or Thom, if you don’t know the exact spelling of his name.
-
trip -france searches for items that contain the word “trip” but not “france,” so results might include photos from a trip to Spain but not to France.
-
kind:message date:6/29/14-7/25/14 NOT date:7/14/14 searches for email messages dated from 6/29/14 through 7/25/14, but excludes those dated 7/14/14.
Search for metadata attributes
Most items contain metadata that describes the item contents, how it was created, and other attributes. For example, when you take a digital photo, information such as the camera model, the aperture, and the focal length are among the many attributes automatically stored in the file as metadata. To view metadata for a file, select the file, then choose File > Get Info.
Here are examples of how you might use metadata attributes in your search:
-
trip kind:document searches for the word “trip” in documents only.
-
author:tom searches for all items written by Tom.
-
meeting date:tomorrow searches for meetings you have planned for tomorrow.
-
kind:images created:5/16/14 searches for images created on a specific date.
-
kind:music by:“glenn miller” searches for music by Glenn Miller.
-
modified:<=6/29/14 searches for items modified on or before a specific date.
You can also search for specific types of items, such as apps, contacts, or bookmarks. For more information, see Find specific types of items when searching.