Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard: Peachpit Learning Series

Lesson 19. Find What You Want, Fast—with Spotlight

Goals

Understand the different ways to access Spotlight and search your Mac

Choose or change the categories for searching

Prevent selected folders from being searched

Expand the search with metadata

Add searchable keywords to files

Create Smart Folders

Take advantage of Spotlight in other applications

Spotlight is not just a search feature, it’s a way of working with your Mac. Once you get accustomed to its speed, versatility, and usefulness, you’ll find yourself using Spotlight regularly instead of opening and closing folders and windows.

If you find you perform a certain search often, save it as a Smart Folder. Files that match the search criteria are automatically listed in the Smart Folder ...