Can't find files either with Spotlight or Finder

So (for example) I just created a file (with Photoshop) called "duellingremotes.jpg" and it's in a folder in another folder on the Desktop. Nothing comes up when I search for "remote" either in Spotlight or by going Command-F. Is this not one of the basic abilities that I should have? What am I doing wrong?

To add to Daniel's response,
When you search for a term in Spotlight, it assumes that the term you are searching for represents a word or the beginning of a word. That said, it will find the word within the file name as long as it is delineated in the filename either with-punctuation, ChangeOfCase, or spac ing.
So, if you named the file DuellingRemotes.jpg, it would find it if you searched for "remote." But it would not find it on searching for "mote"
If you want to search for something that is an embedded string in a file name, use the Name Contains option in Cmd-F.
With that, you could search for "ingrem", "otes" or any other part of the file name.

Similar Messages

Is tagging files necessary with Spotlight?

I'm an attorney, so I save a lot of case law on my computer. They are usally PDFs. I've thought about adding tags to the files so that I can search certain legal terms. However, the legal terms (the tags I would use) are all words and phrases that are used within the files. With Spotlight I can just type the word or phrase and the files using them show up in the search result without the file ever having been tagged. If all that I'm ever searching are these words or phrases that are already used within the file, would there be any benefit to tagging these files with the words or phrases?

X423424X wrote:
On the subject of spotlight tags
(1) Let's get one thing straight. (I thought I had done that when I wrote "edit a PDF in Acrobat".) We're not talking Spotlight tags (even if they exist). We're talking PDF tags. These are read and understood by any app which understands the PDF document information dictionary (see PDF Reference, 6th edition, §10.2.1), which is the most basic level (we'll ignore metadata streams). These stay with the document, and get carried over with the document; which means not only that they'll be understood by any properly designed PDF manager, but that they will be used also on Windows, Linux, and so on. IOW, the investment of work on tagging these files is not only not tied to Spotlight, it is not even tied to Mac OS X. Hence, definitely worth doing, AFAIC.
Personally I don't waste my time remembering various properties spotlight can use
(2) À chacun son goût, maître. (I find that it's not remembering that takes time -- faster hard drive, maybe?) The point of the little trick was answering the OP's question, ie, using Spotlight to search for PDF tags only. As to remembering, well, there are such things as saved searches and 'smart folders'. Moreover, anyone who can handle the spelling and pronunciation of sundry Anglo-Norman juicy bits like "avowtry", "postremogeniture", "nuncupative will", or "writ of oyer & terminer" will hardly have a coughing fit over two measly kMDItem keywords, now will he?
I use spotlight for basic filename
(3) IMHO, that's exactly where SL falls very short; but, to each his own. As anyone who's read my posts knows, I can hardly be described as a fan of SL. In my case, 99% of my searches are of filenames, and, unfortunately, there's no replacement for SL that fits my needs. None of the three apps I use on a regular basis (John R Chang's Find File, Thomas Tempelmann's FindAnyFile, and Christian Grünenberg's EasyFind) are a complete replacement for the Find utility in Panther. As to my PDFs, I manage those with EndNote. I don't recommend it (it's really not a PDF manager at all), but I have a lot of data in it and haven't found yet something worth converting to. But I'm not a lawyer; if I were, I'd certainly take a very close look at DevonThink.
On the subject of spotlight tags, although I never use them, there's even a utility for them as well. It's called TagIt.
(4) I would urge some degree of caution when considering TagIt. It's not a "spotlight tags" utility (in fact, are there any "spotlight tags", other than comments?); it's really part of OpenMeta; the developer, Ironic Software, lately seems missing in action, and Yep, their foremost product, hasn't been updated in quite some time. Unlike PDF metadata, OpenMeta is not cross-platform and it is not transferable.

I have a .mov file that is 59 gigs. Is there a converter that can reduce the file size with minor resolution loss so I can import it into final cut express?

I have a .mov file that is 59 gigs. Is there a converter that can reduce the file size with minor resolution loss so I can import it into final cut express?

Open the file in QuickTime Player. Then do Tools > Show Movie Inspector. What does it say for Format and FPS?
At 59GB, I suspect you have either a 4 hour DV video or a 1+ hour video that was converted to Apple Intermediate Codec. If it's either of those, you can import it directly into FCE provided you select the appropriate Easy Setup first. Your clips have to match the properties of the Easy Setup you are using.
If it's neither DV or AIC then you need to convert it to one of those codecs. (QuickTime/DV or QuickTime/AIC) Many people in this forum rely on MPEG Streamclip (it's free and works great).

I need any help i can get, im having trouble with the app find my iphone. I have lost my iphone, checked on the computer, and somehow, took it away so how do i get it back??

Help
I need any help i can get, im having trouble with the app find my iphone. I have lost my iphone, checked on the computer, and somehow, took it away so how do i get it back??

If you are saying that after signing into iCloud it is telling you device is not found, it could be for any number of reasons. If the battery is dead, if the SIM has been removed, or if someone else has the phone and they have restored it, it will not be shown. Also, if you located it once and then sent a remote wipe, it disables the abililty to locate the phone with Find My iPhone.

I want to backup several hundreds of emails to an external hard disk. The mail program is Apple Mail version 7.1. The Operating System is OSX Version 10.9.1 Mavericks. Can anybody advise me either where I might find instructions to undertake the backup or

I want to backup several hundreds of emails to an external hard disk. The mail program is Apple Mail version 7.1. The Operating System is OSX Version 10.9.1 Mavericks. Can anybody advise me either where I might find instructions to undertake the backup or send me the instructions

right-click or control-click on the mailbox account you want to back up in Mail, in the box on the left under MAILBOXES.
select Export Mailbox...
pick a destination for the backup folder

Finding file locations in Spotlight

I just upgraded to Yosemite and love Spotlight's new design, but I can no longer find a file's location on my computer by pressing Option+Command. So what's the new trick for finding file locations?

Press just the Command key -- the path displays at the bottom of the preview window at the right (not very noticeable especially when there is text going to the bottom of that preview).
You can also press Command Enter and that will open Finder to the containing folder with the file selected.
Command i opens the Get Info window with details, but unfortunately it opens behind any open window.

Reader can't open file saved with "Extended Features"

Any help would be appreciated.
File created with Acrobat Pro 9.
File opens fine under Windows and Linux, but can't be saved.
Enable "Extended Features in Adobe Reader" in Acrobat Pro 9.
File can be saved under Windows, but gives an error in Linux.
"This document enabled extended features in Adobe Reader. The document has been changed since it was created and use of extended features is no longer available. Please contact the author for the original version of the document."
The file opens, but is unusable. Nothing can be entered into any of the fields.
Thanks,
-matt

I had the same problem earlier this week -- I created a PDF with Acrobat 9, enabled for commenting, sent out to coworkers, who then reported the "use of extended features is no longer available" message. After many, many troubleshooting permutations, I finally found the problem to be related to the timestamp on the file.
I am on the US east coast, and the document was sent to coworkers on the US west coast, 3 hours earlier. When they opened the document, it appeared to be "from the future" (lol) and therefore suspect. This was born out by the fact that the next day, the file behaved as expected for them. I also verified this on a test system, where I was able to switch the time setting. By the way, this happened with both Reader 8 and 9.
So, I guess the workaround is either to change your computer's time before sending a file with rights extensions to someone in an earlier time zone, or create it and hold it until they have caught up with the time in the file's timestamp.
That has to be about the weirdest bug I have encountered to date...and I have no idea why it showed up this week. I have been sending out PDFs enabled for commenting for a couple years.
HTH

Can I copy files – but with certain restrictions?

I have just finished a large project, the archives of which involves about 5000 "base" files, stored on about 80 CDs and 50 DVDs, involving about 50,000 files in total. Each of the "base" files may have had up to 30 incremental versions. i.e. a certain text file may have undergone revision 23 times, and each revision was saved and archived to (probably) a different disk, with a different suffix – a, b, c and so on. But sometimes the suffix didn't change even though the file was edited. I might have done a bit more dust removal on an image and just overwrote the old file (already archived), and so the new one was archived on a different disk.
I now have 130 disks from which I would like to extract all the files and collapse them to one large archive that will probably span about 20 disks by the time I delete some files not needed. That way I can easily search for all versions of, say, GB097, by going to the particular DVD that has the "G" files on it. Up would come:
GB097
GB097a
GB097b
GB097b-1
GB097b-2
GB097c
... and so on.
This is what I would like to do:
1. Grab the first archive disk, open every folder, and copy all the files to the one folder on a hard drive.
2. Open the second disk and repeat step (1), but with these two provisos.
(a) If a file is identical to a previously copied file (maybe I archived it twice), the file isn't copied. However...
(b) If a file has the same name as a previously copied file, but the data within that file is different (i.e. I removed some dust from an image file, but left the name unchanged), I'd like that file to be copied with a numbered suffix, the same way that Trash treats identically named files.
Any suggestions how I could do this?

Back again. This is the Terminal output when run on my +Duplicates Copy+ folder:
Last login: Thu May 20 13:28:30 on ttyp1
Welcome to Darwin!
jenny-pearces-imac-g5:~ Jenny$ chmod +x /Users/Jenny/Desktop/Bash\ Test\ Documents/BashTest.txt
jenny-pearces-imac-g5:~ Jenny$ /Users/Jenny/Desktop/Bash\ Test\ Documents/BashTest.txt /Users/Jenny/Desktop/Duplicates\ copy/
/Users/Jenny/Desktop/Bash Test Documents/BashTest.txt: line 1: ${filePaths${count}}: bad substitution
/Users/Jenny/Desktop/Bash Test Documents/BashTest.txt: line 17: fileSum0=d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e: command not found
/Users/Jenny/Desktop/Bash Test Documents/BashTest.txt: line 1: ${filePaths${count}}: bad substitution
/Users/Jenny/Desktop/Bash Test Documents/BashTest.txt: line 17: fileSum1=d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e: command not found
/Users/Jenny/Desktop/Bash Test Documents/BashTest.txt: line 1: ${filePaths${count}}: bad substitution
/Users/Jenny/Desktop/Bash Test Documents/BashTest.txt: line 17: fileSum2=d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e: command not found
jenny-pearces-imac-g5:~ Jenny$
I'm not sure it's worth spending much more time on this. However, if you're prepared to keep posting, JJJ, I'll keep testing.
*SCRIPT AFTER THE EDIT*
#!/bin/bash
declare -i count=0
declare -a fileSum filePaths
# Main folder can be declared on the command line or if not then use /testpix
MainFolder="${1:-/testpix}"
# Set the internal field separator to newline to preserve spaces in file paths
IFS=$'\n'
# Use 'find' to create a list of files within the folders.
filePaths=( $( find "${MainFolder}" -type f \! -name ".*" ) )
# Get an MD5 checksum for each file's combined content of both data and resource forks
for file in ${filePaths[*]} ; do
fileSum${count}=$( cat "${filePaths${count}}" "${filePaths${count}}/rsrc" | md5 | cut -d'=' -f 2)
let count+=1
done
# For each file, check for a duplicate checksum and if found, move the matching file to the user's trash folder
# Rename files with duplicate names by appending #XX
for ((i=0;i<${count};i++)) ; do
[ -z "${filePaths[${i}]}" ] && continue
dupecount=1
for ((j=0;j<${count};j++)) ; do
[ -z "${filePaths[${j}]}" ] && continue
if [ "${fileSum[${i}]}" = "${fileSum[${j}]}" -a ${i} -ne ${j} ] ; then
mv "${filePaths[${j}]}" ~/.Trash && filePaths[${j}]='' && fileSum[${j}]=''
elif [ $(basename "${filePaths[${i}]}") = $(basename "${filePaths[${j}]}") -a ${i} -ne ${j} ] ; then
let dupecount+=1
dirname=$(dirname "${filePaths[${j}]}")
fullfilename=$(basename "${filePaths[${i}]}")
extension="${fullfilename##*.}"
filename="${fullfilename%.*}"
until [ ! -e "${dirname}/${filename} #${dupecount}.${extension}" ] ; do
let dupecount+=1
done
mv "${filePaths[${j}]}" "${dirname}/${filename} #${dupecount}.${extension}"
filePaths[${j}]="${dirname}/${filename} #${dupecount}.${extension}"
fi
done
done
exit 0

New iMac 24 inch, 2.93 GH problems with spotlight and finder

Has anyone had problems with Spotlight flickering in the upper right corner of the screen with each keystroke and the Finder crashing and relaunching when trying to open certain folders copied from an older computer running 10.4.11 or trying to open home folders on G5 and G4 computers over a local network? I have now received two replacements for my original machine from Amazon.com and all three machines have the same problem. This has been going on for nearly three weeks. I have never had problems like this with Apple products before - and have used them since 1985. Is there a design defect in the new 2.93 GH 24 inch iMac? I have been in touch with Apple Support but no one has resolved the problem and none of the product specialists are using this particular model of new computer. Very frustrating!

HI Edwin,
Check the iMac hard disk for errors. Insert Installer disk and Restart, holding down the "C" key until grey Apple appears.
Go to Installer menu (Panther and earlier) or Utilities menu (Tiger and later) and launch Disk Utility.
Select your HDD (manufacturer ID) in the left panel.
Select First Aid in the Main panel.
(Check S.M.A.R.T Status of HDD at the bottom of right panel. It should say: Verified)
Click Repair Disk on the bottom right.
If DU reports disk does not need repairs quit DU and restart.
If DU reports errors Repair again and again until DU reports disk is repaired.
Carolyn

How can I supress the 'misses' with a linux 'find'

Hi,
I'm searching for a string using 'find'.
When using find, I always get a lot of rows of dierctories that say 'permission denied' in my output. How can I supress those rows.
find ./ -name 'abc' -print

Use *2>/dev/null* at the end of your find command to suppress Permission denied.
$ find /etc -name oracle
find: /etc/cron.d: Permission denied
/etc/oracle
/etc/oracle/test2/oracle
find: /etc/racoon/certs: Permission denied
find: /etc/audit: Permission denied
find: /etc/lvm: Permission denied
$ find /etc -name oracle *2>/dev/null*
/etc/oracle
/etc/oracle/test2/oracle
$

Why can I not find files created with x-rite software in color sync folder?

Creating printing profiles for different papers.They are being stored in a hidden folder. Why?

I can only find two library folders out of the three that you are speaking of. It is my understanding that in 10.7 and 10.8 they changed where and access to certian files.
I'm just really stumped why it would hide files that are being used by more than application when I can put downloaded images in colorsync folder and they are fine.
Thank you for your help and suggestions
This is x-rites answer:
In an effort to resolve your support Case, the following comment has been added. Please review this comment, and respond as indicated.
Comment: Apple is hiding some files like the system Library, if you go to
their web site they will show you how to make them visable.
Thank you,
Kevin Freeman
Technical Support Rep - Level 1
This may be getting a littel more involved than I willing to get into!

Why can't I find a program with spotlight?

About a month ago I downloaded a free trial for Kaspersky Anti Virus. The trial ended, so I put the folder in the trash and emptied the trash. Afterwards I still was getting notifications in my notification bar. There is an icon in the notification bar. It has options to choose, so I tried opening it, but notifications keep popping up saying it cannot be opened. I tried searching in spotlight, but nothing comes up, only websites.

Remove "Kaspersky Security" by following the instructions on this page. If you have a different version of the product, the procedure may be different. The product includes a Safari extension that may not be removed by the uninstaller.
Back up all data before making any changes.

Can I add file size to spotlight window?

Currently the only file information that displays is name, kind and last opened. I'd like to get the file size to display as well to help me ID which version of files I want. For that matter can I add other parameters to the sortable bar at the top of the file list (even if they're not searchable parameters).
Thanks

We get three and only three choices. Can't even have date created or modified, which are searchable criteria, we are stuck with Last Opened (who in the world is ever looking for that anyway????). If you think this is absurd, be sure to let Apple know:
http://www.apple.com/feedback/macosx.html/
Tell all your friends and relatives to do the same. Enough people complained about the downgraded powers of Stacks so that Apple brought back the Tiger functionality that had been eliminated. Perhaps if enough people complain about the crippled Spotlight GUI we will see some of its former functionality returned.
Francine
Francine
Schwieder

Can't share files/printer with Windows computer anymore

I had a perfectly working wireless home network with a windows xp and dlink router but then I moved...now I got the internet working and I have the same setup but I can't get anything to print from my Macbook or connect to server to share files.
how can I find out if all the setting are the same or what is causing the problem.
MacbookPro Mac OS X (10.4.8)

More info please...
Is the Printer on the Windows® machine I take it?
Care to give us IPs of the various Computers/Routers involved?
Were you printing via IP before or what?

File type in Spotlight and Finder search

I have several lectures that are all Keynote presentations (both 08 and 09) and wanted to make a smart folder to have them all in one place. However, doing that, I realized that my Keynote files are not listed as "Presentations" but rather as "Documents", along with my Pages documents and many other files, including images and music files. Actually, almost every file type is listed in the Documents category. Is there a way to manage these File Types? Searching by extensions does not seem to do the trick.
Very confused.

Thanks, that's much better. However I only find 21 files with this setting, but I know that there are at least 50 in my Home directory. Any idea why? Is there like a time limit as it seems that its mostly older files that are ignored.

Can't find files either with Spotlight or Finder

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for