Maximize Finder Window Size with Relaunch

The default Finder window size is way too small.

Keep only one finder window: as when Finder opens a new window, it uses the last accessed window size, if there are multiple windows, it’s hard to tell which one Finder uses as the template. Adjust the finder window size

If you keep the Dock at the bottom, don’t take the whole bottom of the screen, as it may conflict with the Docker: when we want to click “Path bar” at the bottom, it will accidentally show the Docker.

Or we can move dock to the right side: at System Preference -> Dock, look for Positions on Screen and choose right.

Relaunch Finder

Go to Apple menu -> Force Quit: (or Command+Option+Esc ) to kill finder, Mac will relaunch Finder automatically.

) to kill finder, Mac will relaunch Finder automatically. or click Alt(Option) key first then right click on the Finder in the docker, then click “Relaunch”

Change Default Finder Window other than default “Recents”

When we open a new finder, it opens “Recents” smart folder, but in most cases, we want to go to some folder, don’t really care about recently added files.

We can change the default folder to our frequently accessed folder at the General pane of Finder -> Preferences: for example the home folder, or the master folder that we hold all our files in work.

Search Current Folder instead of “This Mac”

At Preference -> Advanced tab, find “When performing a search:” at the bottom and choose Search the Current Folder.

Customize List/Icon View

Command(⌘)+2 to change the current view to list, then Finder -> View -> choose “Show Viewer Options” or Command(⌘)+J, select “Always open in list view”, then click “Use as defaults”.

Command(⌘)+1 to change the current view to icon, then Command(⌘)+J to open “Show Viewer Options”: choose “Sort by Name”, Unselect “Always open in icon view”, then click “Use as defaults”

Customize the sidebar

At Preference -> Sidebar tab, choose what to show and hide in sidebar.

Command+Ctrl+T(or drag) to add frequently accessed folders to the sidebar.

Show Path Bar

Show the Current Path the the bottom: Go to View menu > check Show Path Bar

When we right click on any folder in the path bar, then for any folder, we can Copy xx as Pathname, “Open in new Tab”, “Show in Enclosing Folder”(go to that folder in current tab), “Get info”.

Customize the Toolbar

Go fo Finder -> View -> choose “Customize the toolbar”, we can add “Get info”, “New Folder” buttons.

Quick Look

Select one or more items then press the Space bar, use left, right to go to previous or next.

Press Option key when press space to quick look in full-size.

Hold Option Key while Click

In the right context menu, press Option key would:

- Change “Copy xxx” to “Copy xxx as Pathname” - Change “Open with” to “Always Open with” - Change “Quick Look x items” to “Slideshow x items”

Show Me More Info: Filename Extension and Hidden Files

Check “Show all filename extension” at Advanced tab from Finder’s Preference.

Show hidden files Run defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles -bool YES && killall Finder at Terminal.



Reveal Files in Finder in Spotlight

When search in Spotlight, use the arrow keys to select file:

- hold Command key(⌘) would show the file path - hold Command key(⌘) while press enter would show the file in Finder

Search, Saved Search(Smart Folder)

During search, we can specify conditions like: kind, file extension, created date, modified date, last opened date, and much more.

We can directly delete files in search result.

We can save the search as smart folder and add them into side bar for easy access.



More Tips for Mac Finder

We can lock a file by right clicking a file -> Get info -> select Locked .

-> select . Command+delete to delete files and Command+Option+delete to delete files permanently by default, deleted items would be sit in the Trash folder, Command+Option+delete would delete the file immedetiary and permanently.

to delete files and to delete files permanently

Actions on multiple files

After select multiple files, we can copy, rename, quick look, slideshow, compress them, put them into new folder.

Cmd-C then Opt-Cmd-V to Cut a File

It only works for files, not folder.

Finder Shortcuts We Should Know