Finder, faster
Get what you need more quickly 1 Get tagging Tags are a brilliant way to organise and access files. To create tags for flagging files and folders in the Finder, go to Finder > Preferences > Tags. You can use multiple tags, so for example you might apply
3 Transform the toolbar
You can change the Finder toolbar to include the commands you use most: just ≈-click on it and choose Customise Toolbar. You can now reorder, and add and remove toolbar icons. If you mess it up, just drag the default set from the bottom of the pop-up.
4 Locate the Library
Your Mac’s Library doesn’t usually appear in the Finder’s Go menu – the idea is to stop people wandering into it by accident – but you can make it appear by holding down the ≈ button when the Go menu is visible.
5 Get into Groups
If you click the Action button in a Finder window you’ll see an option to Use Groups. This organises the current folder’s contents by type, such as folders, documents, images and so on, or by type, or by date, or by any other attribute. It can make very large folders much easier to navigate.
6 Use Spotlight as a launcher
WIth the exception of copying and pasting, the keyboard shortcut we use most on our Mac is ç+[Space bar]: that’s the Spotlight shortcut, and you can use it to carry out quick sums and conversions or to launch specific apps.
7 Use more Widgets
Widgets in macOS appear in a panel that pops up when you need it and stays away when you don’t; we use ours for our schedule, the weather forecast and non-urgent notifications, but you might want Notes, News or other apps. To change your widgets, click on the date and time in the menu bar and then on the Edit Widgets link in the bottom.
8 Embrace accessibility
System Preferences > Accessibility can make Finder easier to use for people with poor vision, so for example on a Touch ID-equipped Mac or keyboard you
can tap the Touch ID sensor three times to turn on VoiceOver, which provides more control via the keyboard and spoken or Braille descriptions of what’s on screen. You can also adjust features such as keyboard navigation, pointer control, zoom controls and more.
9 Show the Path
If you want to know where a file lives, go into the View menu and select
Show Path Bar. This adds a bar at the bottom of the window showing the exact location of the selected file or folder.
10 Go to the Gallery
Trying to find a specific picture in a busy folder? Use your Finder window’s View menu to select Gallery. This displays your folder contents as a strip of thumbnails, with a large image of the currently selected item.