Spotlight Searches "This Mac" Instead of Current Folder

If I have a folder open in Finder (in this case, from an external FAT32 drive) and I type a search into Spotlight within that Finder window, it will show results for "This Mac" instead of the current folder that I was in.
I have to click the folder name to the right of "This Mac" in the gray search options to get it to look in the correct folder. It's not a huge problem, just really annoying.
Anyone know how to fix this?
Thanks,
Chris

This behavior is definitely a pain. Certainly not the Tiger behavior. If I bother to navigate to a particular folder and then do a search, chances are I want to search that folder. If I search in a Finder window the default behavior should be to search the current folder. I've been looking for a way to change this for hours now. Hopefully someone can figure out a way. In the meantime I'm leaving feedback to Apple to express my displeasure with this change.
OAW

Similar Messages

"File, Find, Searching "This Mac" or "New Finder Window" not finding files ?

I an iMac 7,1, Mac OS X 10.6.8, Build 10K549,
I have noticed on many occasions recently that when I ma using either ...
File, Find, Searching "This Mac"
or
"New Finder Window"
I am NOT finding the files I am looking for ...
I now they are there, so I go through all my folders, and find the files, or folders I am looking for ...
So why could this be happening, why are they not found in the search ?
Is there a fix or addition ?

As baltwo eventually explained, you have to add the search criteria "System files" to your search, with the option "Include" selected, to find many items Spotlight otherwise excludes from search results. Alternately (& quite ridiculously), if your search is restricted to the parent folder containing the item, you don't need to add this.
For example, if you open /Library in the Finder, enter "Desktop Pictures" in the search box, you won't get it in the results with the default "This Mac" location, but if you click "Library" for the location, you will. (Yes, many users think this is bizarre, "what were they thinking?" behavior.)
What Spotlight considers "system files" is only slightly less bizarre, as you will probably discover once you start using it to broaden searches. For instance, Safari history items & Mail.app messages are not found unless you include system files, but many files like C Header Source files (in System/Library/Frameworks) are found without including system files in the search.
When it was introduced in Tiger, Spotlight was supposed to be a next-generation search engine, capable of accurately guessing what you were looking for (& filtering out what you weren't) with near-sentient intelligence. I think almost anyone who used that version will agree it did not achieve that lofty goal. Apple apparently agreed, or at least listened to the complaints enough to realize it needed rethinking. Unfortunately, what its designers came up with for the Leopard rethink feels like an early beta version, full of hastily implemented, quirky features that never got sorted out before it was released.
We can only hope that we won't have to wait for OS 10.6 for a more mature, less quirky version.

How to get dynamic icons like in "Searching this Mac"?

Hello,
So whenver I use spotlight to search something and click on "Show all in finder" I get the "Searching This Mac" window. The one where I can add filters and "stuff". When I resize this window, the icons rearrange themselves to allways fit the window, so that no icons are ommited. It's like they adapt dynamically to the window's size. OS is Lion.
Is there a way to get this behaviour on all finder windows? If so, how do I get them to behave that way?
Thank you in advance,
Milton Sá

I don't know of a way to make it happen automatically.
But you can make it happen with little effort. After resizing the window, press Command-Option-1
This instruction will perform a Clean Up action making the icons fill the window, using 'by name'. If you want a different arrangement function, look in the View menu, Clean Up By submenu.

In Finder how to stop "searching this Mac"?

When Finder is opened, an empty graph page opend up with the title, searching "This Mac". There are many, many pages behind it. As you delete each page, another pops up into infinity. How do I stop this searching "This Mac"?

Is Spotlight doing it?
One way to test is to Safe Boot from the HD, (holding Shift key down at bootup), run Disk Utility in Applications>Utilities, then highlight your drive, click on Repair Permissions, Test for problem in Safe Mode...
PS. Safe boot may stay on the gray radian for a long time, let it go, it's trying to repair the Hard Drive
Reboot, test again.
If it only does it in Regular Boot, then it could be some hardware problem like Video card, (Quartz is turned off in Safe Mode), or Airport, or 3rd party add-on, Check System Preferences>Accounts>Login Items window to see if it or something relevant is listed.
Check the System Preferences>Other Row, for 3rd party Pref Panes.
Also look in these if they exist, some are invisible...
/private/var/run/StartupItems
/Library/StartupItems
/System/Library/StartupItems
/System/Library/LaunchDaemons
/Library/LaunchDaemons

Why no size in "searching this mac"

why can we not change the options for what we see when "searching this mac"... i want to see the size... PLEASE fix this....
it currently seems to be just "name" "kind" and "last opened"
ugh

Glad to hear it works in Leopard. And believe me I sent feedback. I also wrote a review and put it up:
http://www.pinkmutant.com/articles/Leopard/leospot.html
I don't think I actually used the word "insane" in the feedback I sent directly to Apple, but I definitely said unkind things. Oh, and the article has been accessed 330 times since I put it up.....
Francine
Francine
Schwieder

How do I delete files found by Searching "This Mac"?

I am trying to get rid of the .xmp files that the PC version on ACDsee put in my files. I did a search and found 10,000 of these pest on my new iMac with
Searching "This Mac". I am able to select them all in that window, but there is not an option to delete them. I tried dragging them to the trash.
I realize these are in many folders on my computer. Is there an easy way to get rid of them all at one time? If not what would be the quickest
way to get rid of them? All help will be greatly appreciated.
Thanks so much,
Jan

I disconnected my EHD and now it is letting me select them(dragging my mouse over about a 1000 at a time) and throw them in the trash. It must have found
some on the EHD, which I am going to wipe clean anyway after my files are moved over. I'll just check daily for new ones. Hope is is really deleting them from all those files. Over 6000 without the EHD.
Jan

My spotlight search on mac lost its curved edges

My spotlight search on mac lost its curved edges
Hello, I was using my spotlight search and now i noticed that its edges are not curved anymore. Now they are straight. I don't like them: i like them like they used to be, curved.
What could I do?
Things i did that evidently did not work:
- Restart my mac
- Safely boot my mac
- change the color of the ui to dark and black to normal
my mac: MacBook Pro (Retina, 13-inch, Mid 2014)
               Processor: 3 GHz Intel Core i7
               Memory: 16 GB 1600 MHz DDR3
               Graphcs:

HI,
Does anything here sound familiar?
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2538
Run the Apple Hardware Test. http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1883
Carolyn

How come in Finder, when I search "This Mac", there's fewer results than when searching somewhere more specific? Shouldn't it be the opposite?

I have my preferences set so that New Finder windows show Macintosh HD. So when I open a Finder window, five folders are shown: Applications, Library, System, User Information, and User. As an example of the subject of my question, I opened a Finder window and typed "hp" in the search field. Four results were displayed: HP ePrint.app, two other apps that open the printing queues of HP printers, and an HTML document of bookmarks with two bookmarks containing "hp" in their names. My goal of the search* was to find a folder named "hp", of which there are two that I know of on my computer. Their locations are: 'Macintosh HD/Library/Printers' and 'Macintosh HD/Library/Application Support'—neither folder was found when searched for in "This Mac" nor when searched for in "Macintosh HD". When I searched for "hp" in the Library folder, 36 results were displayed, including the two folders named "hp". Above those 36 items, it clearly indicated that my search was conducted in the Library folder, and that I was able to click "This Mac" to search my whole computer instead. Clicking "This Mac" resulted in the same four items that were found when I searched for "hp" immediately after opening the Finder window to be displayed again. In my mind, clicking "This Mac" should at least keep the 36 items found in my Library folder to remain displayed. My reason for thinking this is because the Library folder is contained in "This Mac", isn't it? The same logic applies to Macintosh HD also; why doesn't searching there return at least the same 36 results? This phenomenon of the contained location returning more search results than the location which contains it frustrates me. When I search for something, I have to guess if it's in Library or System (if it's in one of the other folders, I'm always certain of which to search). I know that doesn't seem like a big deal, it just doesn't make sense to me why I can't find things by searching in "This Mac" or Macintosh HD. Until I got this MacBook (15" Pro Retina mid 2012, 2.6/16/256) , I was a lifelong Windows user. I love my MacBook, but this search idiosyncrasy is the only thing about it that seems inferior to its Windows counterpart. Searching for something in Windows is easier to me because locations behave hierarchically. I still like my MBP way better than any other computer that I've ever owned before, I just wish Apple would change this one attribute. If anyone knows how to make the Finder search behave completely hierarchically (when the containing location returns at least the same search results as the location it contains), please let me know. Thank you.
*The "hp" folder search that I conducted was done only as an example of the issue that I discussed here. I knew where the folders were, thus, it was easier for me to explain the problem that was posed in my question.

Start with http://www.pinkmutant.com/articles/Leopard/leospot.html and http://www.thexlab.com/faqs/stopspotlightindex.html, then my mod to Finder's Find at http://www.macosxhints.com/article.php?story=20080229204517495 for what you can change so you can find stuff excluded by the default structure.

Spotlight searching a Mac that's a firewire-connected Target Disk?

I was interested to know if Spotlight can search on another Mac that's in Target Disk mode. It seems to me that it does not, but perhaps there is some way it could?

Hi Lunchbox,
I did a quick search in the Apple Help Viewer by typing in: migrating in the search field. Here's the result.. might help.
Intel-based Mac: Some migrated applications may need to be updated
Symptoms
After using Migration Assistant or Setup Assistant to migrate applications from a PowerPC-based Mac to an Intel-based Mac, some of the migrated applications may not launch or function correctly.
Resolution
If you find an application that does not open or function correctly, use the steps found in "Intel-based Mac: How to tell if an application is Universal" to see if the application is Universal. If the application is PowerPC (not Universal), check to see if a newer version of the application exists that may work better with Intel-based Macs.
Additional information
When Migration Assistant or Setup Assistant is used to migrate applications between two computers, it will bring over any applications it finds on the source computer that are not already installed on the destination computer. In some cases, a PowerPC-based Mac may have applications that will not run correctly through Rosetta on the Intel-based Mac.
For example, if your PowerPC-based Mac has X11 installed, but your Intel-based Mac does not, and you use Migration Assistant to migrate applications from the PowerPC-based Mac to the Intel-based Mac, X11 will get transferred to the Intel-based Mac but it will not open. In this case, you can delete the PowerPC version of X11 and use Optional Installs on the Install Disc that came with your Intel-based Mac to install the correct version of X11.
Carolyn

How do i get rid of (search: this mac all my files ) in finder window

this search bar doesnt go away anyone know how to get rid of it????

-> Finder -> Preferences -> Sidebar tab, uncheck "All My Files".

Searching this mac...........

Well, my son has entered this loong string into the search and now when i open finder, under search for, i have this crap in there and it pushes my view window to the far right to where i can not see files and folders. How do i get rid of this bogus search?

f0rgiven wrote:
Ummm, my son is 3, so he does not need his own account.
But he certainly should not be using yours
But back to the issue:
I force quit finder and relaunch and the search still shows up in the sidebar of finder. There is no x to click on. I have placed a screen capture here:
http://mytimewithgod.net/Picture.png
The error is not where I thought it was.
Simply drag that bad search off to the left of the Finder window and it will go "Poof!"

Search settings - default to current folder and "file name" ?

99.9% of the time, when I enter something in the search bar of the Finder window, what I want to do is:
1. search is the folder that I'm in
2. search for the "file name", and
3. then sort the results by "date modified".
Currently, problem is:
1. I can only change the search area (which defalts to "This Mac") after the search has begun.
2. Likewise, the default is "content"
3. There's not even an OPTION for "date modified". The "Last Opened" option is rarely useful.
Please help!
Thanks
ip
Message was edited by: ideapower

Francine Schwieder wrote:
The only one who can help us is Apple. Obviously you find this just as ridiculous as everyone else does who actually uses their computer to do things.
While I usually think this kind of sweeping generalization is unjustified, here I do not. Spotlight has great potential, but "ridiculous" describes the implementation perfectly. I'm not terribly upset by the default to search "This Mac" -- it really isn't much of a hassle to have to click the folder button -- but the loss of the ability to choose any folder or group of folders is exactly the kind of "regressive functionality" that should have people flooding feedback with complaints.
Just as ridiculous is the inability to show & sort on any of the metadata columns a normal Finder window offers. And if "Last Opened" is so useful in searches that it is the (unchangeable) default, why isn't it available in any other Finder view?
Plus, does anybody really understand how the "File Name" option works? It rarely seems to make a difference -- I often enter a search phrase, look at the results, then switch to the File Name option & still see files that clearly do not have the search phrase or any part of it in their names.
More: Try a search on Kind "Other" & enter the "Kind" info from a file's Get Info Box. Try "Application (Classic)" & note that it finds any you might have. But try "Application (Universal)" or "Application (PowerPC)" & you get ... nothing. Try just "Application (" & you get all apps. Try "Classic" & once again, any Classic apps show up, but try "Universal" or "PowerPC" & you get nothing. It's the same with many other file kinds -- sometimes the "Get Info" file kind string or some part of it works, sometimes not. Worse, the same is true for the "Kind" info taken directly from Finder windows. Try entering "Plain Text" in the Kind-Other search. I have hundreds of these but the search turns up exactly one, & it isn't even in my Documents folder.
(Before anybody suggests it, yes I have rebuilt the Spotlight index repeatedly, using both the Privacy pane method & Terminal commands, & it makes no difference.)
The point is not to rant but to demonstrate how poorly thought out & unreliable the app remains. I feel the problems are so obvious & widespread that we should not have to use the feedback page to tell Apple about them, but apparently we do. It really is as if it was designed by people that don't have a clue about what a search engine should do or how to integrate it into a user friendly environment.

End Users unable to use the spotlight feature on Mac Server OS 10.8.2

I have a few users who are trying to use the spotlight feature to search files on the server we have running 10.8.2 however they are unable to do so. Once connected their user folder automatically opens with their specific folders but when you start to enter text into the spotlight in the top of the finder window it only searches "This Mac" We are connecting using afp (Command + K). Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Welcome to the Apple Support Communities
In the menu bar, press the AirPort icon and open Wi-Fi Diagnostics

Spotlight Starts on "This Mac"--Not Chosen Folder

Why is it the simplest bugs have not been fixed in Leopard? Is it my machine or is everyone else having the following issue with Spotlight.
I want to search a folder and its content. I go to the Spotlight box and put in a query. It then defaults to "This Mac" which is EVERYTHING and not the folder I initially wanted to search.
Is there any way to fix this?

Thanks Francine for confirming that my misery is not without company. I wrote Apple Feedback about this on day 2 of Leopard release and day 1 of the update release. I will continue to bug them regarding this. They made such a push to improve Spotlight. Why they are so slow to fix something that would take one hour to remedy is beyond me.
To make it easier for others, feel free to cut and paste my Feedback...
Please fix the following Spotlight search result behavior.
1) Initial search should be current open folder, not "This Mac".
2) Provide user preference for default search criteria being "content" or "file name".
3) In column view results, provide "custom view" of results including number of columns and choice of columns beyond the mere Name, Kind, and Last Opened.

Should I delete my old iPhoto Library Current folder once everything is transferred to Photos Library Current? Does this mean that all my new photos on any device can come off my Mac and ONLY be in the Photos Library which is in the cloud?

I have 2 questions about the new Photos app for Mac (I'm running 10.10.3 on my MacBook Air 1.8GHz Intel Core i5 mid 2012)):
1.Should I delete my old iPhoto Library Current folder once everything is transferred to Photos Library Current?
2. Does this mean that all my new photos on any device can come off my Mac and ONLY be in the Photos Library which is in the cloud? That would free 59GB off my Mac and that would be very good.

1.Should I delete my old iPhoto Library Current folder once everything is transferred to Photos Library Current?
You can, but I would wait, until you have have been working with Photos for some time and are sure, that everything migrated well. There may be hidden flaws in your library and teething problems with Photos. Don't be in a hurry to abandon iPhoto completely. You may need to go back, until bugs have been fixed. Th Photos Library does not duplicate the photos in your iPhoto Library. the media files are shared and do not need extra space: See: Photos saves disk space by sharing images with your iPhoto or Aperture libraries - Apple Support
2. Does this mean that all my new photos on any device can come off my Mac and ONLY be in the Photos Library which is in the cloud? That would free 59GB off my Mac and that would be very good.
If you have enough iCloud storage. But Photos will still need space for local thumbnails on all devices.
See: Apple - OS X - Photos Preview
Fill your library, not your device.
iCloud Photo Library can help you make the most of the space on your Mac. When you choose “Optimize Mac Storage,” all your full-resolution photos and videos are stored in iCloud in their original formats, with storage-saving versions kept on your Mac as space is needed. You can also optimize storage on your iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch, so you can access more photos and videos than ever before. You get 5GB of free storage in iCloud — and as your library grows, you have the option to choose a plan for up to 1TB.

Spotlight Searches "This Mac" Instead of Current Folder

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for