How to
Save time in Spotlight
Navigate searches
Type your search terms — nothing too specific yet; we want broad results. Use the arrow keys to move to the item in the corresponding direction. Add Cmd to jump to the next category. Press the Return key to open what’s selected.
Search the web
You don’t even have to switch to your web browser to start searching online. With your search terms typed in Spotlight, press Cmd+B to send them to whatever web browser and search engine are set as your defaults.
Advanced searches
You can make use of special syntax allowed by Google and other engines. So, sending ‘(iPhone OR iOS) -beta site:techradar.com’ to your browser returns TechRadar pages that contain ‘iPhone’ or ‘iOS’, but not ‘beta’.
Get word definitions
Press Cmd+L to jump directly to the dictionary definition of what you’ve typed, if one is among Spotlight’s results. Or, press Cmd+D to open the definition in the Dictionary app immediately (again, if there’s a matching result).
Alternative words
If you want a synonym instead, use Cmd+D to open Dictionary. You can switch between dictionaries and thesauri listed below the toolbar. First, choose which sources are listed and in what order in Dictionary > Preferences.
Switch source
Keep your hands on the keyboard while in Dictionary: Cmd+0 selects All, Cmd+1 to Cmd+9 select items to the right (1 being the next to the right of All). Or, hold Cmd+Shift and press } or { to move right or left along one item at a time.
Search Wikipedia
To bypass a search engine and go straight to Wikipedia, type what you want to find out more about and press Cmd+K. If no corresponding Wikipedia page exists, you won’t be switched to your web browser at all.
Reveal file in Finder
If it’s a file that you’re looking for, but you don’t want to open it, select it in the results and press Cmd+R to open a Finder window with the file selected. Similarly, to find out more about a file, press Cmd+I to open an Info window.
Spotlight’s prefs
Finding a particular kind of item is cluttering results? With Spotlight open, you can jump directly to its pane in System Preferences by pressing ‘Cmd+,’ (comma). That’s the same shortcut used in most apps to open their preferences.
Empty the bar
You could press Cmd+A to select what’s typed in Spotlight and then ∫ to clear it, but why take two steps when you can do it in one? Simply press Esc. Where that would close many other dialogs right away, in Spotlight it empties the bar.
Close Spotlight
The window only closes if you press Esc a second time, or if the bar is empty. Pressing ‘Cmd+.’ (full stop) or Spotlight’s key combo, Cmd+Spacebar, also works. The input focus is passed back to whatever had it before Spotlight.
Adjust position
Want to reposition Spotlight’s window? The most reliable place to drag from is the magnifying glass icon at its top–left corner. If you want to reset it to the centre, click and hold on Spotlight’s icon in the menu bar for a second or so.