- Mar 09, 2012 13 Must-Know Spotlight Keyboard Shortcuts for Mac. Mar 9, 2012 - 18 Comments. Spotlight is the powerful built-in search engine on Mac. Not only will it find just about any file or folder buried on your file system or attached drives, but it also doubles as a fantastically quick application launcher, dictionary lookup tool, and so much more.
- Mac OS X Finder Keyboard Shortcuts Mac Shortcut Spotlight Suche. The Mac OS X Lion Finder helps you access and organize most of the important Mac OS X functions while you work. Use Finder keyboard shortcuts to display windows, copy and move files, and launch applications. These keyboard shortcuts help you get things done more efficiently.
By Adela D. Louie, Last updated: August 27, 2019
SPOTLIGHT, ETC APP COMMANDS macOS Monterey Keyboard Shortcuts Visit MacMost.com for Mac video tutorials, advice, tips and news. ⌘ command ⌥ option ⌃ control ⇧ shift ⌫ delete ⇥ tab! Fn key Note: Keyboard shortcuts can be disabled or customized in the System Preferences. Dec 13, 2021 Mac OS X Finder Keyboard Shortcuts. The Mac OS X Lion Finder helps you access and organize most of the important Mac OS X functions while you work. Use Finder keyboard shortcuts to display windows, copy and move files, and launch applications. These keyboard shortcuts help. Tap the Host or Participant's name tap Pin or Spotlight Video. If you use multiple input sources and have designated Command-Space bar and Option-Command-Space bar as shortcuts for switching between input sources, you must change the Spotlight shortcuts. On your Mac, choose Apple menu System Preferences, click Keyboard, click Shortcuts, then click Spotlight. Open the Shortcuts pane for me.
Ever wonder the Spotlight application on your Mac? Do you know how to use it? If not, then we are going to show you in this article on how to use Spotlight search on Mac.
The Spotlight application on your Mac actually came out since 2005 and it functions as a revamp. This means that you can use this for you to search for your files on your Mac. And as time goes on, the features of Spotlight in Mac also expanded and there are some features that you are not actually aware of.
There are actually two kinds of Mac users in this world. One is those who use the Spotlight search and the other one are those people who ignore it or do not know how to use it. So, if you are one of those people who actually does not use the Spotlight search on your Mac, then you are missing too much.
The Spotlight is actually similar to one that you have on an iPhone called the Siri feature. The only difference is that Siri is voice activated while the Spotlight search feature on Mac is not. All you need to do is for you to enter a few keystrokes and then you will be able to launch or look up anything that you want on your Mac.
Here, we are going to show you several ways on how you can use the Spotlight search and show you that it can make your life easier.
The Spotlight application on your Mac actually came out since 2005 and it functions as a revamp. This means that you can use this for you to search for your files on your Mac. And as time goes on, the features of Spotlight in Mac also expanded and there are some features that you are not actually aware of.
There are actually two kinds of Mac users in this world. One is those who use the Spotlight search and the other one are those people who ignore it or do not know how to use it. So, if you are one of those people who actually does not use the Spotlight search on your Mac, then you are missing too much.
The Spotlight is actually similar to one that you have on an iPhone called the Siri feature. The only difference is that Siri is voice activated while the Spotlight search feature on Mac is not. All you need to do is for you to enter a few keystrokes and then you will be able to launch or look up anything that you want on your Mac.
Here, we are going to show you several ways on how you can use the Spotlight search and show you that it can make your life easier.
Part 1: Getting Started With Spotlight Search
Here is a very quick starter on how you can basically use the Spotlight on your Mac. As what they say, you can never go on advance if you do not know the basics.
So here, all you have to do is to Click on the Spotlight icon that is located on the menu bar of your screen. Or you can also use the shortcut method by pressing the Command + Space key for you to launch the Spotlight search.
Then from there, you can go ahead and start typing and you will be able to see some matching results that will appear on your screen. Then, you can go ahead and choose one result or you can use the arrow keys on your keyboard for you to navigate the results shown on your screen. These categories that are shown on your screen can also be managed when you try to go your System Preferences and then click on Spotlight.
So basically, that is it. You will be able to search anything on your Mac just by using the Spotlight feature.
So here, all you have to do is to Click on the Spotlight icon that is located on the menu bar of your screen. Or you can also use the shortcut method by pressing the Command + Space key for you to launch the Spotlight search.
Then from there, you can go ahead and start typing and you will be able to see some matching results that will appear on your screen. Then, you can go ahead and choose one result or you can use the arrow keys on your keyboard for you to navigate the results shown on your screen. These categories that are shown on your screen can also be managed when you try to go your System Preferences and then click on Spotlight.
So basically, that is it. You will be able to search anything on your Mac just by using the Spotlight feature.
Part 2: Different Ways on How to Use Spotlight On Mac
Now that you have known the basic of Spotlight, then it is time for you to know the different ways on how you can use this application on your Mac. Here are lists of ways to use the Spotlight search.
Way #1: Use it to Launch Applications
This is the most common thing wherein some Mac users use their Spotlight search. And it is also considered the first thing that the Spotlight displays. So, for you to be able to open a certain application on your Mac, all you have to is the steps below. Let us take Safari as an example to launch on your Mac.
Step 1: Go ahead and launch Spotlight or press on the Command + Space key on your Mac.
Step 2: And then, go ahead and type in SA in the search field.
Step 3: After that, go ahead and hit the Return button.
Using Spotlight to launch application will help you speed up the process of doing so.
Step 1: Go ahead and launch Spotlight or press on the Command + Space key on your Mac.
Step 2: And then, go ahead and type in SA in the search field.
Step 3: After that, go ahead and hit the Return button.
Using Spotlight to launch application will help you speed up the process of doing so.
Way #2: Use It To Search by Keywords
Anything that you have on your Mac can actually be easier and can quickly be found using the Spotlight. And this can also make this for any cluttered results. You can also simply focus on the specifics by using the keywords such as “kind:” and “date:” when you are searching for something using Spotlight.
Way #3: Search Using Natural Language
If you would like to have computing a bit normal to human, experiment using the natural language search. Keep in mind that the Spotlight search feature actually understands the likes of “presentation from last week”, “Emails from Derek”, or even “Apps from last month”. You can also drag a certain file from Spotlight going to another app. Also, as an alternative to this, you can also hold the Command key for you to see the current location of the file.
![Spotlight Spotlight](https://www.askdavetaylor.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/mac-keyboard-shortcuts-1.png?ezimgfmt=rs:370x227/rscb8/ng:webp/ngcb8)
Way #4: Viewing Your Contacts Details
![Shortcut Shortcut](https://www.wikihow.com/images/thumb/2/29/Set-a-Keyboard-Shortcut-to-Open-Spotlight-Step-1.jpg/v4-460px-Set-a-Keyboard-Shortcut-to-Open-Spotlight-Step-1.jpg.webp)
Now, if you need to of checking on someone’s contacts number or address that you have on your Mac, then all you have to do is to use Spotlight search instead of going through your Contacts. All you need to do is to type in the name of the person that you have on your contacts list and it will show you their information including their phone number, email address, and more.
Way #5: Looking For Calendar Events
Same through with viewing your contacts on your Mac if you are going to search for an event that you have booked on your Calendar. All you need to do is to use the Spotlight search and type in the name of the event or the reminder. From there, you can select it and all the information you included about the event will be shown on your screen.
Way #6: Access to Dictionary Definitions
Well, the Spotlight search will not be able to help you with one thing and that is your spelling error, unlike the Dictionary feature which allows you to correct any misspelled words. But what it can help you with is you can go ahead and type in the search field “define” followed by the word that you want to know its meaning. And then, you can simply go ahead and use the shortcut Cmd + L and then you will be able to see its definition without the need of opening app your Dictionary app.
Way #7: Calculate Anything
The Spotlight can also help you in terms of calculating things. You can use this instead of opening up your Calculator app on your Mac. Once that the result appears on your screen, you can go ahead and press on the Cmd + C if you want to copy it to your clipboard. Also, the Spotlight application can also do conversions such as weight, temperature, and more.
Way #8: Know The Weather
Another helpful feature of the Spotlight search is that you can actually know the weather in your area. All you have to do is to open Spotlight and type in “weather”. Then, Spotlight will be able to show you a prediction of the weather in your area and as well as for the next six hours and the next day.
Way #9: You Can Check for Your Sports Score
Now, if you are actually into sports and that you are following a certain team and that you missed the game, then you can actually make use of the Spotlight and search on your team’s score. This will be easier rather than searching it on the web.
Way #10: Listening to Music
If you love on listening to music, then you can also use Spotlight for you to look for a song that you have on your Mac. You can type in there the album of the song as well and you can listen to your iTunes preview.
So there you have it. There are still a lot of ways on how you can use the spotlight search on your Mac aside from the things that we have already mentioned above and you will be amazed that it can actually do all that things.
So there you have it. There are still a lot of ways on how you can use the spotlight search on your Mac aside from the things that we have already mentioned above and you will be amazed that it can actually do all that things.
Part 3: A List Of Complete Spotlight Keyboard Shortcuts
Now, for you to be able to get the most out of Spotlight, then you should also learn the different keyboard shortcut that you can use. This way, you will be able to make it easier for you to browse all the results shown on your screen. So here, we have indicated all the keyboard shortcuts that you can use when you are using Spotlight.
1. Command + Space – this will launch the Spotlight application on your Mac.
2. The Right Arrow – this will help you complete the search that you are using which will turn your query into its full name.
3. The Up and Down Arrow – this will allow you to browse on the list shown on your screen.
4. Command-Up and Command Down – this will allow you to jump in between categories of the result.
5. Enter – this will let you open the chosen result.
6. Command + R or Command + Enter – will show the result in Finder.
7. Option + Command + Space – will then open the current search on Finder. This way, you will be able to drill down on more tools.
8. Command + L – will allow you to jump the definition for any search term.
9. Command + B – this will look up to your search term by making use of the default search engine in your default browser.
10. Command + I – This will launch the “Get Info window for your result.
11. Command + C – this will copy the result just like in Finder.
1. Command + Space – this will launch the Spotlight application on your Mac.
2. The Right Arrow – this will help you complete the search that you are using which will turn your query into its full name.
3. The Up and Down Arrow – this will allow you to browse on the list shown on your screen.
4. Command-Up and Command Down – this will allow you to jump in between categories of the result.
5. Enter – this will let you open the chosen result.
6. Command + R or Command + Enter – will show the result in Finder.
7. Option + Command + Space – will then open the current search on Finder. This way, you will be able to drill down on more tools.
8. Command + L – will allow you to jump the definition for any search term.
9. Command + B – this will look up to your search term by making use of the default search engine in your default browser.
10. Command + I – This will launch the “Get Info window for your result.
11. Command + C – this will copy the result just like in Finder.
Part 4: Maintaining Your Mac’s Performance
Now, as we all know, the Spotlight also uses up some space on your Mac and that it can affect its performance. That is why we have made it possible for you to maintain your Mac from those Settings on your Mac that you seldom use. And you can easily do this by using the all-new FoneDog PowerMyMac tool.
The FoneDog PowerMyMac is one of the greatest apps that we have for you to clean up all the junk files that you have on your Mac. And not only that, but it also has a lot of several features that you can use. This is because the FoneDog PowerMyMac is made as an all in one Mac application.
You will be able to do anything with the FoneDog PowerMyMac. It can be a Mac Cleaner, an App Uninstaller, Performance Monitor, a Secret Keeper, File Unarchive, and Wi-Fi spite.
Now here is how you can have the maintenance for your Spotlight on your Mac using the PowerMyMac by FoneDog.
The FoneDog PowerMyMac is one of the greatest apps that we have for you to clean up all the junk files that you have on your Mac. And not only that, but it also has a lot of several features that you can use. This is because the FoneDog PowerMyMac is made as an all in one Mac application.
You will be able to do anything with the FoneDog PowerMyMac. It can be a Mac Cleaner, an App Uninstaller, Performance Monitor, a Secret Keeper, File Unarchive, and Wi-Fi spite.
Now here is how you can have the maintenance for your Spotlight on your Mac using the PowerMyMac by FoneDog.
Step 1; Download and Install
Have the PowerMyMac be download from our official website and have it installed on your Mac.
Step 2: Launch the Program
After that, go ahead and launch the FoneDog PowerMyMac on your Mac. Then you will be able to see on the main interface of the program your Mac’s system status.
Step 3: Choose the Option
Now, at the top of your screen, you will be able to see three option. The Status, Cleaner, and the Toolkit. From there, go ahead and choose “Toolkit”.
Step 4: Choose A Module
On the next page, you will be able to see a list on your screens such as Uninstaller, Privacy, Hide, and more. From that list, go ahead and choose “Maintenance”. This is the section wherein you will be able to speed up the performance of your Mac.
Step 5: Choose Spotlight for Maintenance.
Under the Maintenance module, go ahead and select “Spotlight”. This is because there are some extra plugins that will make your Spotlight more powerful and versatile. Once that these plugins came to be outdated, then you can go ahead and have them disabled.
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Part 5: Conclusion
As you can see, there are a lot of ways on how to use the Spotlight search on your Mac. However, you still have to make sure that you actually keep it well-maintained. This way, your Mac will still be running at its finest or even better. And for you to do this, you can have the FoneDog PowerMyMac and this will be a piece of cake.
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Make the most of Mac's Spotlight Search
by: Yash Wate - Last updated on: December 14th, 2021
Key Takeaways- Spotlight Search enables you to find different items and files, including documents, pictures, videos, applications, and system settings on your Mac quickly.
- Besides finding items, you can also use Spotlight to perform calculations, look up definitions of words, convert units, and find items using natural language search, among other things.
- Below are some Spotlight tips and tricks that can help you get the most out of your Mac.
Spotlight is a system-wide search functionality built into Apple’s iPhones, iPads, and Macs that lets you find a wide variety of items and files on the system without having to navigate through its various menus. On the Mac, in particular, Spotlight Search is exceptionally useful as it can help you find pretty much all kinds of items and can even let you perform different operations on the system, granted to know how to use it effectively.
IMAGE: Apple
Spotlight does this by creating an index of all the different items and files, including documents, pictures, videos, applications, and system settings on the system, which allows it to function like a selection-based search engine that pulls up results for all the different kinds of queries you make.
Besides finding and launching apps, Spotlight also lets you perform calculations, look up definitions of words, convert units, and find items using natural language search, among other things.
Mac Spotlight Search Tips and Tricks
Assuming Spotlight is the default search app on your Mac, the following are a few tips and tricks to get better at performing searches on your Mac.
1. Invoke Spotlight Search Quickly
One of the basic yet essential Spotlight tricks is to use a keyboard shortcut to invoke Spotlight Search from anywhere on the system. While the default way to do this, preferred by most users, is to click on the magnifier icon in the menu bar, using a keyboard shortcut — Command+Space — makes the process a lot quicker.
2. Search Apps by Their Initials
Most of us find an app on our Mac by either entering its full name in the Spotlight Search window or entering a part of it for Spotlight to find a match and return the appropriate app. While this works just fine, there is a much quicker and easier way to do this, which involves searching for an app using its initials. So, say you want to run Sublime Text, rather than typing “Sublime Text” or “Sublime”, you can query “ST”, and Spotlight will pull up the app for you.
3. Perform Calculations
Spotlight Search makes performing calculations on a Mac extremely easy: you simply type the equations you want to solve in the Spotlight Search window to get the results without having to open the calculator app. It is, however, only possible to do basic calculations on Spotlight.
4. Define Words
Although there are various dictionary apps (and also Google search) to look up meanings of words, Spotlight saves you a few steps and puts the same functionality at your fingertips. So you can simply invoke the search and type “define”, followed by the word you want meaning of, and Spotlight will return its definition.
5. Convert Units
Videos
Much like calculations, converting units is another useful functionality that you get with Spotlight Search. To use it, enter a value-unit pair that you want to convert along with the unit in which you want the result. For example, if you need to convert 10 km to miles, enter “10km to miles”. Besides converting units, you can also use Spotlight Search to convert currencies, although the exchange rate it would use might not be real-time.
6. Filter Spotlight Search Results
By default, Spotlight Search helps you find items across a broad range of categories like applications, bookmarks, contacts, folders, music, etc. However, if you want to declutter the results or do not want to see results for specific categories, Apple lets you disable Spotlight Search results for such categories.
To do this, open System Preferences and go toSpotlight. In the Search Results tab, uncheck the box next to the categories for which you do not want to see Spotlightsearch results.
7. Exclude a Folder From Spotlight Search Results
Similar to filtering Spotlight Search results by preventing item indexing from specific categories, you can also exclude specific folders on your Mac to prevent Spotlight from searching for items in them. You might want to do this to avoid unnecessary (temporary files) from being indexed, which can sometimes lead to irrelevant results.
To do this, open System Preferences and select Spotlight. Click on thePrivacy tab and hit the plus (+) sign at the bottom right. Navigate your way through storage to select the folder from which you do not want to see results in Spotlight and select Choose.
8. Search Specific Kinds of Files
For times when you want to find a particular file type on your Mac, Spotlight Search offers the option to modify search parameters to increase your chances of finding the correct file. You can do this by typing out the file name and appending “kind: format_type”. For example, if you want to look for a PDF file with the name “sample”, you will enter “sample kind: pdf” to find the particular file.
9. Search With Boolean Operators
In addition to using search operators for advanced search filtering, you can also use boolean operators (AND, OR, NOT) for complex search queries. For example, if you want to find a PDF file named “sample” that was created on, say, March 1, 2021, you need to enter “sample kind:pdf AND 1/3/2021” into Spotlightsearch to find it on your Mac.
10. Clear Spotlight Search Quickly
When you make a query on Spotlight Search — irrespective of whether you act on its result or not — you will notice that the query remains in Spotlight even when you invoke Spotlight next time, requiring you to clear it before entering another query. You can, of course, do this by hitting the Delete key. However, there is a more efficient way of doing this, which involves using keyboard shortcuts (Command+Delete or Esc) to clear the search window immediately instead of performing multiple keypresses.
11. Track Flight Status Live
Apple allows you to search for live flight status right from the Spotlight Search bar, so you can avoid having to open/visit flight-tracking apps or websites for the same. To find a flight’s live status, all you need to do is enter the flight number of the flight you want to track, and Spotlight will show its live status.
12. Search Items Using Natural Language
Spotlight Search supports natural language search, which relies on algorithms to make sense of the words (in your queries) in the right context and serve you with relevant results accordingly. Using natural language, you can look up a lot of different items on your Mac.
For example, you can type “unread emails” to view all your unread emails, query “photos from march” to find all the photos (including screenshots) from the month of March, or type “documents I created yesterday” to view all the documents you created yesterday — the scope of use is limitless.
Here are a few more example use-cases of using natural language to make queries on Spotlight:
- Find the latest match score of your favorite team/club: type the name of a team to find its score update.
Eg: man utd vs liverpool - Find the weather at your location: enter weather city_name to find the current weather situation of that place.
Eg: weather mumbai - Find an article/video on a website/YouTube: type your query explaining what you are looking for and on which website. Eg: best gan chargers techpp
- Find live price updates for a stock: enter the ticker symbol of the company stock of which you want to know the price.
Eg: TSLA - Find nearby shops/eateries/theatres: look up nearby shops/eateries/theatres etc. in your locality.
Eg: theatres near me
Note: Click on the images to check out the full resolution version hosted on Flickr
13. Find Results on the Internet
Mac Search Shortcut
If you are not satisfied with the results for your Spotlight Search query, you can look up the same search term on the internet right from Spotlight. To do this, with your query entered into the search field, press Command+B. Spotlight will then look it up on the internet using the default search engine on your Mac‘s primary (default) browser.
Spotlight Keyboard Shortcut Mac Keyboard
14. View the File Path of a File
How To Open Spotlight Mac
When you search for a file on your Mac using Spotlight Search, it returns the result along with a few details like the file format, file size, and date of creation. It does not, however, display the path where the file is present on the system. But, you can do this by selecting the file with the arrow keys and pressing and holding the Command key.
15. Essential Spotlight Search Keyboard Shortcuts
Apple offers a few different keyboard shortcuts for Spotlight Search to help you navigate your way better through the search results.
Here is a list of all these shortcuts:
- Command+space: to open/close Spotlight window
- Return: to open a result
- Command+R: open a file in an app or Finder
- Option+Command+Space: open a Finder window with the selected search field
- Tab: to view the preview area
- Up arrow: move to the previous result
- Down arrow: move to the next result
- Command+Up arrow: move to the first result in the category
- Command+Down arrow: move to the last result in the category
Finding Items on Your Mac Efficiently With Spotlight Search
By incorporating the tips and tricks mentioned above in your Spotlight searches, you should be able to find files on your Mac more efficiently and perform a bunch of other app-specific operations without having to open those apps.
Besides, if you still find Spotlight Search lacking in functionality, you can use Alfred for a powerful and customizable search experience on your Mac.