Chapter 4

Searching Everything with Spotlight

In This Chapter

arrow Mastering basic Spotlight searching skills

arrow Selecting text and keywords for best results

arrow Displaying results in the Spotlight window

arrow Customizing Spotlight settings in System Preferences

Spotlight is Apple’s desktop search technology that you can use to find files and folders on your computer as quickly as you can type. (Yep, you can search all the documents, Contacts cards, Mail messages, iTunes media, folders, and drives that your Mac can access.) The version of Spotlight included with Yosemite can even search the web and other Macs across your network!

This chapter is your ticket to using this powerful search technology, from day one, like a professional techno-wizard. I discuss how Spotlight works and how you can use it to locate exactly what you want (and present those results as proudly as a wine steward showing off a fine vintage).

Doing a Basic Search

Figure 4-1 illustrates the Spotlight search box, which is always available from the Finder menu bar. Click the magnifying glass icon once (or press +Spacebar), and ...

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