What is the Mac Finder and How Do You Use It?

Summary: The Mac Finder is a utility offered on all Apple computers to assist file management on those devices. It helps you organize, sort, manage, and locate your files from a single “dashboard”. With Finder, you can manage documents, movies, pictures, and more. You can also customize the “views” in Finder, cycle through “Windows”, and much more.

The Mac Finder was initially introduced in 2001 as a barebones search tool that only allowed you to locate your documents. In 2024, the Mac Finder can help you find, sort, filter, create and organize any kind of file on your macOS device.

It helps you manage documents, downloads, pictures, music, videos, and more. These can all be found within the stock ‘Home Folder’ tab when you open Finder.

Finder also helps you manage system files, external drives, and other devices that may be connected to your Mac. Within the Mac Finder, you can create, move, rename, and delete files, and organize them into folders. The Mac Finder also lets you add tags to individual files and folders.

Lastly, Finder supports the management of hidden files and file extensions.

In short, it was designed as a single access point for managing all files and connected devices on macOS.

This guide has everything that you need to know about Finder. Here’s what you’ll learn:

• How Can I Access the Mac Finder?
• Main Components of the Mac Finder
• How to Customize Your Preferences in Finder?
• How to Set Sidebar Preferences in Mac Finder?
• What are the Different View Modes in Finder?
• How to Customize the Different Views in Finder?
• How to Save and Organize Files in the Mac Finder?

So without any further ado, let’s get right into it.

How Can I Access the Mac Finder?

There are three ways to open the Mac Finder.

1. Through the dock: In the bottom-right of your dock, you’ll see a smiling face icon. This is the Finder icon, and if you click on it, a Finder tab will open.
2. Keyboard shortcuts: If on the desktop, you can press command (⌘) + N to open a new Finder tab. If you’re inside another application, first press command (⌘) + tab, then command (⌘) + N.
3. Spotlight: Press command (⌘) + spacebar to open a spotlight search. Type in “Finder” and hit Enter.

Using any of the three methods above will open the Finder tab, allowing you to view and manage your files. Next, we’ll look at key areas within the Mac Finder.

Also Read: How to Recover Deleted Files after Emptying Trash Mac?

Main Components of the Mac Finder

The Finder window has four key areas that you should know:

• The Toolbar: Located at the top, it contains buttons for common tasks like creating a new folder or changing the view.

• The Sidebar: On the left side, this area lists your favorite folders, devices, and locations for quick access.

• The Content Area: The central part of the window where your files and folders are displayed.

• The Status Bar and Path Bar: The bottom sections show information about your files, such as the number of items and the file’s location on your Mac.

You can search for files using the Search bar in the top-right corner of any Finder window.

Simply type the file name or keyword, and Finder will display matching results. You can also refine your search by selecting options like This Mac or the current folder that you are in.

You can also hit command (⌘) + comma (,) to open the preferences menu. Here, you get even more advanced options to refine your search.

If you search for a particular file within Finder and it does not appear in the Finder search, then it’s likely that you have faced data loss. This is because the Mac Finder is a thorough “global” search tool. If the Finder cannot display a file, the file has a problem.

If you have faced data loss, use dedicated data recovery software, such as Stellar Data Recovery for Mac. The software has got everything that you would need to get your file(s) back.

Now that you have a basic grasp of the Finder layout, let’s learn how to manage Windows within the Finder to optimize your workflow.

Also Read: macOS Sonoma vs. Ventura: Should You Upgrade macOS 14

How to Customize Your Preferences in Finder?

Finder also lets you set “preferences,” which allow you to customize various aspects within the tool.

This is done by clicking on Finder > Preferences in the top-left part of the tab. You can also hit command (⌘) + comma (,) to open this menu.

Some preferences that you can set are as under:

1. Default View Style: Choose to display your files as lists, icons, columns or cover flows.
2. Desktop Items: Show or hide mounted servers, hard disks, external disks, or removable media on the desktop for quick access.
3. Filename Extensions: Show or hide filename extensions like .doc, .pdf, .jpg to better identify file types.
4. New Finder Window Location: Set the default folder that opens in new Finder windows, like Documents or Desktop.
5. Sorting Options: Keep folders on top when sorting by name.
6. Hidden Files: Show or hide hidden system files in Finder.
7. Status Bar: Display the status bar at the bottom of Finder windows.
8. Path Bar: Show the full path in the Finder window title bar.
9. Sidebar Items: The most commonly used preferences are the Sidebar ones. These allow you to customize the items shown in the Finder sidebar, such as Airdrop, iCloud Drive, Applications, etc.

The next section will show you how to set your sidebar preferences.

Also Read: Mac Dock | Ultimate Guide to the Mac Dock

How to Set Sidebar Preferences in Mac Finder?

Navigating through the Mac Finder becomes more efficient when you customize the Sidebar and manage your Home folder. The Sidebar on the left side of the Finder window, lists your favorite folders, locations, and devices for quick access.

Here’s how to customize your Sidebar:

1. Click Finder > Preferences from the top menu.

2. Go to the Sidebar tab.
3. Check or uncheck the items you want to appear in the Sidebar, such as Documents, Downloads, Pictures, and connected devices.

Your Home folder contains pre-created folders like Documents, Downloads, Music, and Pictures. These help you organize your files logically. For example, save your photos in the Pictures folder and your music in the Music folder.

Now that you’ve organized your Finder, let’s explore the different Finder view modes that are available for use.

Also Read: How to Recover Data after macOS update?

What are the Different View Modes in Finder?

Here are the available Finder views:

1. Icon View: Displays files and folders as icons, which you can arrange freely. This mode is ideal for a visual “at-a-glance” overview.

2. List View: Shows your files in a list with details like file size, date modified, and type. This mode is perfect for sorting and managing large numbers of files.

If you right-click any column titles, you get a list of fields you can toggle on or off.

3. Column View: Displays your files in columns, showing the file path as you navigate through folders. Great for seeing the hierarchy and structure of your files.

4. Gallery View: Provides a large preview of selected files with a thumbnail strip below. As the name suggests, this viewing mode is useful for browsing images or media files.

The Mac Finder allows you to customize each of the viewing modes we detailed above. The next section teaches you how to do that.

Also Read: Why is Mac Safari not Working after Update?

How to Customize the Different Views in Finder?

Customizing Finder views lets you tailor how your files and folders are displayed, making it easier to locate and manage them.

The View Options can be adjusted to match your preferences for each individual folder. In other words, you can either create “global” customizations, or per-folder ones.

Here’s how to customize Finder views:

1. Open a Finder window and navigate to the folder you want to customize.
2. Click View in the top menu, then select Show View Options.

3. Adjust settings like Icon Size, Grid Spacing, and Text Size to your liking.

4. You can also change the Background Color or set a specific view as the default for all folders by clicking Use as Defaults.

5. Additionally, enabling the Status Bar and Path Bar provides useful information at a glance.

This shows the number of items in a folder and available disk space, while the Path Bar displays the file’s location within your directory structure.

With your views customized, you’re ready to learn about saving and organizing files effectively.

Also Read: Everything You Can Do With Sticky Notes for Mac

How to Save and Organize Files in the Mac Finder?

Here’s how to save and organize files in the Mac Finder:

1. When saving a file, select File > Save in the application you’re using.

2. A Finder window will open, allowing you to name your file and tag it (tags can be added later).

3. If you click on the “Where:” field, you can browse to the location where you want the file to go.

4. Select the appropriate folder, like Documents or Desktop, and click Save.

That was how you could save and organize files and folders in the Mac Finder.

And with that, we come to the end of this article on the Mac Finder. We hope you found it useful.

Also Read: How to Delete Time Machine Backups and Snapshots?

FAQs

1. Can I recover accidentally deleted files in Finder?

All files on Mac go to the Trash when accidentally deleted. So yes, you can recover files that you accidentally deleted in Finder from the Trash folder. If the file is no longer in the Trash, you may need to use a data recovery tool like Stellar Phoenix Mac Data Recovery (Free) to attempt it.

2. How do I create a new folder within Finder?

You can create a new folder by either right-clicking within a Finder window and selecting the “New Folder” option. The keyboard shortcut for this is pressing Command + Shift + N.

3. Is it possible to view hidden files in Finder?

Yes, you can view hidden files by pressing Command + Shift + Period (.) in any Finder window. Press the same combination again to hide the files.

4. How can I change the default folder that opens when I open Finder?

When you open a new Finder tab, it opens to the same “page” each time. You can set Finder to open to a different folder, such as downloads, desktop, or a custom location. Do this by going to Finder in the top-left, and clicking “Preferences.” Then, click “General”, and set your default folder.

5. What are Smart Folders in Finder, and how do I use them?

Smart Folders are a way to organize files by search criteria, rather than location. To create one, go to File > New Smart Folder. You can set criteria, such as file type, date created, or keywords, and Finder will automatically update the Smart Folder with matching files.