Ordering search results in Finder

When I search for certain files, I often need to sort the results in some custom order. Like by "date created". Or, by "date created", then by "kind". Unfortunately, Finder offers sorting by either "name", "kind", "last opened" only. Cmd+J (view options) actually doesn't offer an options. Creating a smart folder doesn't help either.
Am I missing something, or should I just look for another file browser for this kind of task?

Spotlight/Finder's Find only offers these three options: name, kind, and last opened. See http://www.pinkmutant.com/articles/Leopard/leospot.html

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Change sort order search results?

When I search in Mountain Lion I get a list of results, for instance documents that contain the word "serial"
see the attached screenshot.
The searchresults are ordered by name.
Only problem is the last result (starting with a Z) comes first.
I want the results starting with an A to show first.
In Lion you could reverse the sort order by clicking in the top bar (which says "Name" or "Naam" in my screenshot) but here that does not work.
What am I missing?
Thanks

Change the item arrangement to 'None'
And then you'll be able to reverse the sort order

Date ordered search results

When I start a new search in Mail, the results are always returned ordered according to their rating. I prefer date ordered so I click the date column and arrange by date. However, it is annoying to have to do this for every new search... is there a way to set the default sort method to "sort by date"

Hi riscy,
Welcome to Apple Discussions!
The "toggle it" part is highlighting on one of the sortable columns (From, Subject, Date Received, etc) and then click/toggle on the small triangle in the right corner of that column heading.
So, for example, if you are sorting by Subject and the triangle points up, you will be sorting in alphabetical order A-Z - if the triangle is down, it will be Z-A. Same on Date Received (or Sent if you are in your Sent folder)
Of course you must have messages to sort for the triangle to show.
Good Luck,
John

Search results in Finder - alias issues ("can't be opened because ..." )

Hello,
I have read the topic "The alias can't be opened because the original item can't be found" connected to external hard drives. I also get such message, but the problem is connected to the Finder's Search function. There is no problem to find items (files and folders) through Search in Finder, but when I want to open the searched item, usually a folder, I got this alias error message. Nevertheless, I have no problem to open the item although this message pops up. I am not sure whether this is due to the recent update. A week ago, I got a new logical board (motherboard). Maybe the alias error message is because of the new logical board? Can the problem be solved?
Kind regards,
Aleksandar

It's a bug. See this thread for a bit more detail about it:
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=2175779&tstart=135
The solution will have to come from Apple. Be sure to use the link in the above thread to report that you are having this problem too.
Francine
Francine
Schwieder

Incomplete Finder search results in Mavericks

Hi guys. It appears search results in Finder in Mavericks are incomplete.
I am used to delete preference files left behind after I trash an app -like .plist files located in home folder/library/preferences -they are showed no more in search results. Obviously finder search criteria are customized to show system and hidden files.
It looks like a bug. Can you reproduce same issue?

Back up all data.
In Contacts, select
File ▹ Export ▹ Contacts Archive
from the menu bar, and save the archive to your Desktop.
If you use iCloud, disable contact synchronization in the iCloud preference pane. When prompted, click Delete From Mac. Re-enable synchronization. Wait for the contacts to re-synchronize, then test.
If you don't use iCloud, or if the contacts fail to synchronize, delete all contacts, then select
File ▹ Import…
and import the archive you created. It may take a few seconds for the contacts to be indexed. Test.
If you don't like the results of this procedure, quit the application. In the Finder, select
Go ▹ Go to Folder
from the menu bar, copy the text on the line below into the box that opens, and press return:
~/Library/Application Support/AddressBook
Restore the folder that opens from the backup you made before you started.

Search Results Details

I've been considering migrating from Windows to Mac for the past year and have had the chance to test drive my girlfriend's machine, and my mom's also.
So far I find limitations that really seem discouraging and I'm wondering if the latest OS has fixed the limitation of search results in Finder: Can you display the file size, path, and other attributes in the search results?
Frankly I was stunned to find that I could search for say, files over 32MB but then not see their location in the Finder search results list.
Windows has had this ability as far back as I can remember, v3.1?

file path was always available in search results. it's displayed at the bottom. the number of other attributes you can list in search results was increased in snow leopard although it's not huge. switch to column or coverflow flow in a finder search window. then go to view->menu->show view options and check the boxes for columns you want to see. for some reason the size column is listed but is grayed out. that looks to be a bug. the following workaround lets you add the size column to the search results
http://www.macosxhints.com/article.php?story=2009083113534843

Can't access the search results I get on Finder after the system is updated to Mavericks.

Hi there guys, how are you?
I work everyday with my 21.5' iMac and it had OS Lion before I updated to Mavericks last month. As I work with lots of files, I have also a 1TB Lacie external drive pluged into it via firewire and I constantly access these files. After I updated though, I'm experiencing a strange problem. Everytime I search for a file on Finder, all the results that come up can't be edited or even selected. This is driving me crazy because I must open another tab and go all the way through the file I want as I can't select any file from the searches. All the search results come up written in gray color and with a empty circle on its left side. I can't even click on them! For better explanation, here is a picture of what happens:
Before the update, I used to normally access every result the search came up to.
I have another iMac here in the network with Mavericks too and all the searches returns with selectable and editable results. Can anyone help me with this, I am having a really hard time here as I am losing much much time. Thanks a lot and sorry for the bad english!

Please read this whole message before doing anything.
This procedure is a test, not a solution. Don’t be disappointed when you find that nothing has changed after you complete it.
Step 1
The purpose of this step is to determine whether the problem is localized to your user account.
Enable guest logins* and log in as Guest. Don't use the Safari-only “Guest User” login created by “Find My Mac.”
While logged in as Guest, you won’t have access to any of your documents or settings. Applications will behave as if you were running them for the first time. Don’t be alarmed by this behavior; it’s normal. If you need any passwords or other personal data in order to complete the test, memorize, print, or write them down before you begin.
Test while logged in as Guest. Same problem?
After testing, log out of the guest account and, in your own account, disable it if you wish. Any files you created in the guest account will be deleted automatically when you log out of it.
*Note: If you’ve activated “Find My Mac” or FileVault, then you can’t enable the Guest account. The “Guest User” login created by “Find My Mac” is not the same. Create a new account in which to test, and delete it, including its home folder, after testing.
Step 2
The purpose of this step is to determine whether the problem is caused by third-party system modifications that load automatically at startup or login, by a peripheral device, by a font conflict, or by corruption of the file system or of certain system caches.
Please take this step regardless of the results of Step 1.
Disconnect all wired peripherals except those needed for the test, and remove all aftermarket expansion cards, if applicable. Start up in safe mode and log in to the account with the problem. You must hold down the shift key twice: once when you turn on the computer, and again when you log in.
Note: If FileVault is enabled, or if a firmware password is set, or if the startup volume is a software RAID, you can’t do this. Ask for further instructions.
Safe mode is much slower to start up and run than normal, with limited graphics performance, and some things won’t work at all, including sound output and Wi-Fi on certain models. The next normal startup may also be somewhat slow.
The login screen appears even if you usually log in automatically. You must know your login password in order to log in. If you’ve forgotten the password, you will need to reset it before you begin.
Test while in safe mode. Same problem?
After testing, restart as usual (not in safe mode) and verify that you still have the problem. Post the results of Steps 1 and 2.

Wrong Search result for Employee Resp.lD when searching Sales Order

Hi All,
Happy new year first of all,
I encounter a problem when using search sales order in WebUI. I am using SAP CRM 2007 SP4.
I notice that the search result by using Employee Responsible ID as criteria, is returning Person Responsible
instead !
I entered both partner function in sales order document (Employee Responsible => BP 1234 and
Person Responsible => BP 4567).
Although in Search criteria selection I choose Employee Responsible ID, but when I put
the BP 1234, the search result is blank. And when I change the value to BP 4567, I can see the result
shows that document. But BP 4567 is Person Responsible, how come it gives the result for Employee
Responsible??
This is totally wrong! I couldn't find SAP NOTE or same issue mentioned here in SDN.
Did I miss it? Please kindly share your find out if you have same case or solution for this.
Thank you and will be rewarded.
Cheers,
Gun

Hi Robert,
Which config are you refer to in SPRO ?
Partner Function Determination ?
By attention to the Relat. Category change, we can not simply change it (although it can fix this
problem). I read the field info :
In many cases this is predefined in the system, based on the partner function category chosen. You can assign the corresponding relationship type freely if:
- you select the partner function category undefined partneror
- you have yourself defined the relationship category to
So did you try it? fixed the problem? or have you encounter further problem?
Rgds,
Gun.

Change search results to ascending order

Some time in the past week or to, the search results that are returend from Finder, are now in descending order. I have no idea when or how that was changed, but I'd like to change it back to ascending. How do I accomplish?
I tried clicking and right clicking the column header. Nothing. Can't find anything Settings either.
Please help!
David

Thanks CaptFred, that was it. At some point I had selected Arrange by -> Name, and that for some reason defaulted to descending.
I just did some checking. Apparently, the current sort order becomes the default if you choose a different Arrange by value, and you can't change that unless you select Arrange by ->None. Interesting.
good to go!
Thanks!
David

Finder search results show MP3s with incomplete or changed filenames in Yosemite

Under Yosemite, when performing a search for "mp3" in Finder, certain search results will not display their true filename under the "Name" column:
For example, the "Name" column above should display the entire filename (as shown in the Status Bar), not just what I can only assume is the track title.
This does not apply to all mp3s, only to some. Probably something to do with ID3 tags, or perhaps with certain hyphen usage in the filename.
Anyway, I'd just like the "Name" column to show me the filename as it should, and not metadata. I can't find how to change the results to display the correct filenames.
This causes several problems. First it makes sorting by an album's track number, which is frequently included in the actual filename, in the search results impossible, as now the numbers are not part of the list. Therefore if I want to drag an album into an iTunes Playlist in the correct album order I have to go to the source folder and can't do it straight from the search window. Also I can't see separate versions of the same song, which may have the same track title but different filenames. Also I can't see the filename at a glance, which may include other important information other than the track title. And so on.
I can't find anyone else who has this problem on Yosemite. Mavericks yes... and sadly no help. Hoping it's fixable.

I have the same problem with AIFF's too...
It's a big problem for me as I'm currently doing some sound design.
I need to see the file name in the finder, not the title/track name.

FF12 has "Improvements to "Find in Page" to center search result". How can I disable this centering?

FF12 came with new feature - centering of search result. This is rather annoying feature, when one searches for some small word or number on a bigger screen with at least 40-50 long lines of text, because it may be difficult to see the highlighted result.
I tried to find some setting for disabling centering of search result, but couldn't find any. Is there such setting? If not, are there any plans to implement it?
It also might be worth to give some setting like "show result 20px from bottom of window", so that result is not overlapped with URL's overlay, when link is focused.

according to this [https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=720126 bugzilla entry] there is & won't be a setting to turn this behaviour off. maybe there will be an addon sometime to work around that issue...

Error on hover panel of people search result "We weren't able to find additional information"

In people search result while hovering over all result item, in the hover panel in the middle I can see a message "We weren't able to find additional information".
I saw a msdn post for the same question in this
MSDN Link
but there it is said that "If the person has no authored documents, then it will display this in the hover panel: We weren't able to find additional information."
But for my case the authored document is also shown.
Please find in the screen shot below marked in red:
Did I missed something?

Can you check for this issue in ULS Log file.
If this helped you resolve your issue, please mark it Answered

Organize search results in spotlight's finder search function ?

Hello.
The search results in the finder search window (cmd-f from within finder)—is there a way to organize them just like the files in any finder window (name, date, size, kind … ) ?
(I guess I should add that I of course know there is some organization offered by the sideboard on the right in the actual spotlight window. But this one offers other and in may cases less effective criteria.)
Would be very useful. Thanks a lot.
n.
Titanium PowerBook G4 / 1,67 MHz Mac OS X (10.4.7)

If the ⌘F search results are in a "brushed metal" window in the "Finder", the window should have buttons for "Icon" and "List" view near the top left edge, just like a regular "Finder" window (unless you have customized your "Finder" toolbar to remove those buttons). Switching to "List" view should allow the full choice of sort criteria to be selected from "View Options" (⌘J).
If the window is in "aqua" mode (no toolbar or sidebar), it is still possible to switch to "List" view from the menu bar - "View" > "as List" (⌘2).

Finder search results - is there an option to display file size?

recent OSX/Mac convert here - so apologies if this is a dopey question.
When I search for files using the search function in Finder, only the file 'Name', 'Kind' and 'Last Opened' columns are displayed on the list & coverflow views.
A file 'Size' column would be very useful: is it possible to modify the results display to include more columns?
Thanks in advance for any advice.

Try the advice in this article: http://www.macosxhints.com/article.php?story=20080229204517495
(Although, IMO, that should be a built-in option.)
EDIT: Misunderstood your question. You can't, unfortunately. If you're as displeased by that as me, send feedback to apple: http://www.apple.com/feedback/macosx.html
Message was edited by: joshz

Odd Finder search results

Working w/ Mav (10.9.1) I ran into a curious Finder problem: after performing a file search in a Finder window (search box top right) I got a list of files with no icons in front of the file names and none of the items shown is clickable (see screenshot).
Performing the same search with Spotlight (cmd-F) in the menubar top right OR in a MS Word OpenFile dialog window yields similar results w/ file icons and suitable items clickable as expected. Any clues? -H-

Select
View ▹ Show View Options
from the menu bar. In the dialog that opens, select
Arrange by: None

Ordering search results in Finder

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